


you're my heart shaker (i don't want to let you go)

by byungari



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, art major!hyungseob, art major!jihoon, daehwi hates 2park but who doesnt, dance major!woojin, math!major euiwoong, music major!daehwi, philosophy major!jinyoung, rated teen for language and some drinking, slow burn kind of but not really?, when i planned this jinhwi appeared more but i changed stuff so they're more minor now im sry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-03-18 06:16:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 29,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13675983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byungari/pseuds/byungari
Summary: in which jihoon and woojin are both oblivious to their feelings, leaving their friends to suffer next to them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this has been sitting in my head for the past 10000 years and i finally got to writing it,,  
> title comes from Heart Shaker by Twice!!  
> this fic is inspired by Super Secret!! its a korean webtoon thats super cute 10/10 would recommend
> 
> some notes:  
> -baejin, daehwi, and guan lin were aged up to join 2park as little freshman in college!!  
> -jinhwi are already together in this, they got together during senior year!  
> -hyung line + guan lin are minor characters and probably wont appear as much as 2park/jinhwi im sry  
> -ongniel is Science  
> -daehwi hates 2park bc they're dumb
> 
> now available in [vietnamese](https://www.facebook.com/allaboutmychamwink/photos/a.839827662893671.1073741834.690726927803746/839836236226147/?type=3&theater) and [bahasa](https://www.wattpad.com/story/153602256?utm_source=android&utm_medium=link&utm_content=share_reading&wp_page=reading&wp_uname=liliyoom&wp_originator=acgmdlip2%2FN6iHTvImsGGu%2BrCJZy8VHOtVT1HDcpW017cSrw25ROGPq7E%2BZFOWnPl3FlF3mYthy12EsX%2BMzUPGCWZc%2FnFoSEOXoiJDDCBtmKRMmc7vI4JJQgK0RnX9Sv&_branch_match_id=543553558546992330) !!

“Hey, wake up.”

Jihoon groaned and turned away from the noise, putting his pillow over his head as if that would help stop the fingers that were prodding his side.

“Wake up! You’re going to be late for class. I _told_ you not to sign up for a 9am class if you could help it. This is what you get for not listening to me.”

Jihoon sat up and glared at Woojin through the haze of his sleep. “Woojin, I swear to god I will set everything you love on fire.”

“So you’ll set yourself on fire?” Woojin grinned and ruffled Jihoon’s bedhead, making it messier than it already was. “We can talk about your arsonist tendencies later. It’s almost 8:30. How are you going to shower and make it to class on time?”

“Fuck,” Jihoon mumbled. “Why did I sign up for this class again?”

“Because,” Woojin smirked. “You said, and I quote, ‘Woojinnie, signing up for this class will force me to wake up at normal human hours! And it’s a required class for my major! It’s like killing two birds with one stone!’ Seongwoo hyung even warned us about thinking like that. He told us that that’s the downfall of almost every freshman.”

Jihoon groaned and flopped back down on his bed. “Is it too late to drop this class? Is the add and drop period over? Fuck, why did you let me do this to myself?”

“Stop complaining and go get ready,” Woojin clapped his hands twice before dragging Jihoon out of bed. “Come on, chop chop!”

“God, please kill me now,” Jihoon sighed as he lazily made his way to the bathroom. “I've lived a good life.”

“Maybe you should’ve done theater instead of art,” Woojin mused as he followed Jihoon with a towel in hand, because Jihoon always forgot to take one with him. “You would’ve done well with the theatrics and all.”

“Fuck off.”

***

Jihoon and Woojin. Woojin and Jihoon. The pink sausages. 2park. The demonic duo.

The two of them have been best friends since primary school, though Jihoon still hasn’t forgiven the younger for ruining the sand castle he worked so hard to build during recess (though Woojin _did_ help him rebuild it afterwards).

They had gone through the innocence of primary school, the dark ages of middle school, and the identity crisis of high school together, and were now facing beginning of the confusion that was adulthood together.

“To think you guys would choose the same college too,” Daehwi shook his head in disbelief as he unwrapped his hamburger. “You guys are really meant to be.”

“It’s not that weird if you think about it,” Jihoon pointed out with a raised eyebrow. “This school has one of the best arts program in the country. I mean, you’re here too aren’t you, Mr. Musical Genius?”

“Yeah, but you guys are also roommates,” Daehwi gave Jihoon a look. “Did you guys choose that too?”

“No,” Jihoon admitted. “We both chose to be assigned randomly.”

“Match made in heaven,” Jinyoung took a bit out of his pizza. “Why aren’t you guys dating again?”

Jihoon rolled his eyes at the question he’s been asked at least a million times. “Because we’re just friends,” he said impatiently. “We don’t like each other that way, okay?”

He quickly took a bite of his ramen so that they wouldn’t ask him anymore questions. He was worried for nothing, though, because the two of them quickly dissolved into complaints about their calculus class.

(“I’m a music major,” Daehwi hissed. “What do I need to take another math class for?”

“Society and their standards,” Jinyoung shook his head. “It’s all part of conformity. You _know_ how much our society looks down on the arts program. They’re trying to stomp the creativity out of you through math and science. How else can you explain requiring every student to take at least one math class and two science classes? It’s time we take our stance and say no–”

“Jinyoung, I love you, but shut up.” Daehwi shushed his boyfriend by shoving some French fries into his mouth.)

***

Even though his day started earlier than he would’ve liked, Thursdays were Jihoon’s favorite. Sure, he had to wake up at ass o’clock in the morning (read: 8 a.m.), but his day also ended a lot earlier than most people’s since he only had two classes.

This was what kept him going as he walked into his chemistry class, a cup of caramel macchiato in hand (courtesy of Seongwoo hyung).

“Just one more hour of class,” Jihoon muttered under his breath as he sat down. “One more hour and I can go take a nap.”

“Amen, sister.”

Jihoon jumped and turned to his right with wide eyes. “Oh, my God, Hyungseob,” he breathed out in shock. “Don’t do that! When did you get here?”

“I got here while you were muttering that weird mantra under your breath,” Hyungseob snorted. “Anyways, is this your last class for the day? I’m so jealous. I’m literally just now starting my day. I have classes until five! Five p to the fucking m! Please pity me and share some of your coffee.”

Jihoon chuckled and let Hyungseob take a sip of his drink. “I’ll be thinking of you while I get ready to nap after class,” he nodded seriously at the boy, who made a face at his comment.

“That’s weird and also very rude.” Hyungseob sniffed. “I have a favor to ask you, by the way.”

Jihoon glanced at the clock that was located at the front of the room. 10:55. He had a couple minutes left to entertain his friend. “What’s up?”

Hyungseob grinned and leaned in, causing Jihoon to raise an eyebrow and lean backwards. “You’re friends with Park Woojin, right? The dance major?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” Jihoon shrugged. “It’s not like we’ve known each other for our entire lives, no.”

“Whatever,” Hyungseob waved his hand dismissively. “Is he single?”

“Why, are you interested?” There was no way Ahn Hyungseob, his lab partner and a literal angel, could be interested in his best friend.

“Yes,” Hyungseob nodded.

“You could do so much better,” was his immediate response. Jihoon felt genuinely offended. “Hyungseob, rethink this, please.”

His comment caused Hyungseob to burst out laughing, attracting attention from their classmates. “Didn’t you just say you’re best friends with him? What kind of best friend are you?”

“I’m saying this for your own good,” Jihoon said seriously. “Hyungseob, I’m telling you. You could do _so_ much better.”

Hyungseob pouted. “So you won’t set me up?”

Jihoon sighed at the look Hyungseob was giving him. “Okay, okay. I’ll text you his number after class and let him know that you’re going to text him. Sound good?”

“You’re the best, Jihoonie,” Hyungseob gave a small cheer as he got ready for class, as their professor had walked in at that moment. “I’ll treat you to some food if it works out.”

“I want steak.”

“Your dreams are too big.”

***

to: **chamsae**

yo

from: **chamsae**

what do u want

to: **chamsae**

rude

i just wanted to lyk that i got ur sorry ass a date

be nice to him ok hes my lab partner!! also my only friend in chem

hes probz gonna text u soon just letting u kno

from: **chamsae**

wtf?

i dont even have time to date

oh he just texted me

is his name ahn hyungseob ?

to: **chamsae**

yh das him

be nice or is2g ill set u on fire

from: **chamsae**

jihoon we talked abt this

u cant just threaten to set me on fire evrytime

we should go see sum1 abt ur arsonist tendencies

to: **chamsae**

i do wat i want

from: **chamsae**

is dat y u failed calculus our senior year

to: **chamsae**

wtf so rude (¬▂¬)!!!!

from: **chamsae**

¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is not proofread so pls let me know if there are any mistakes!! :'))  
> also english isnt my first language so some of my sentences might sound awkward;; if thats the case pls let me know, thank you!!  
> comments + kudos are always appreciated!! <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re missing the point,” Daehwi snapped.
> 
> “I would literally fight Woojin if he hurt Hyungseob in any shape or form,” Jihoon said instead.
> 
> “I can’t believe this,” Daehwi muttered and laid down on Woojin’s bed. “Two of my best friends are the biggest idiots in the universe. The Lord is testing me, truly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2park r idiots and daehwi Hates them. what else is new??

Jihoon woke up with a start to someone banging on his door. He blinked and stared at the ceiling, trying to regain his bearings, before picking up his phone to check the time. He panicked momentarily when his phone read 2:32pm before realizing that today was Thursday, and that no, he was not late for his shift at the bookstore.

He was interrupted out of his thoughts when someone banged on his door again, reminding him of the reason he was so rudely woken up in the first place.

“I’m coming! Please stop trying to break down our door, jeez.” Jihoon trudged out of bed sleepily and opened the door and was greeted with a fuming Daehwi, who stormed in angrily. “Yeah, sure, come in and make yourself at home,” Jihoon muttered as the younger sat down on Woojin’s bed and glared.

“What is this I hear about you setting up Park Woojin, your roommate, with Ahn Hyungseob, your only friend in chemistry?” Daehwi demanded. Jihoon yawned and scratched his stomach while making his way back to his bed.

“Okay, first of all, how did you already hear about that? It literally happened like maybe an hour or two ago. Second of all, how do you even know Hyungseob?” Daehwi’s way of getting information genuinely frightened Jihoon sometimes. It was like he could never keep a secret without the younger boy finding out about it sooner or later.

“I ran into Woojin hyung after dropping off Jinyoung,” Daehwi sniffed and ignored Jihoon’s disgusted expression at the thought of public display of affection. “Shut up, you wish you had a boyfriend who would walk you to class everyday.”

It was true, but Jihoon kept his mouth shut. He was smarter than that.

“Also, Hyungseob’s friends with Euiwoong. I have calculus with Euiwoong, and so by extension, I know Hyungseob.”

“So you know his name and possibly face but you’ve never spoken a word to him in your life, right?” Jihoon raised his eyebrows pointedly. Daehwi ignored him. Typical.

“Answer my question,” Daehwi demanded. “Why are you setting up your soulmate with another man? Do you have no sense of self-preservation? What is wrong with you? Hyung, what the fuck?”

“Woojin’s not my soulmate,” Jihoon rolled his eyes. “And if anything, Euiwoong should be mad at me, not you. I can’t believe I set up Hyungseob, a literal angel, with that demon.”

“You’re missing the point,” Daehwi snapped.

“I would literally fight Woojin if he hurt Hyungseob in any shape or form,” Jihoon said instead.

“I can’t believe this,” Daehwi muttered and laid down on Woojin’s bed. “Two of my best friends are the biggest idiots in the universe. The Lord is testing me, truly.”

Jihoon ignored him and settled back into his own bed. “I’m going back to sleep. You can let yourself out, right?” He ignored Daehwi’s protests about being a rude host and easily fell back asleep. He dreamt about a pension filled with a personalized room for himself and his friends, complete with a food station and a karaoke station. Ah, what a life.

***

“Daehwi, I love you, but I am this close to drop kicking you out of my bed.”

Jihoon groggily opened his eyes to the noise of a smack followed by a yelp. “Whassgoin’ on,” he mumbled into his pillow.

“The occupants of this room are so rude,” a sleepy voice that Jihoon vaguely recognized as Daehwi’s hissed. “First, host number one falls asleep on me, then host number two shoves me out of the bed _while I’m asleep_.”

“One, this is my bed,” Woojin – was it 5 o’clock already? – pointed out. “Two, you know Jihoon can’t function properly without his afternoon nap on Thursdays. Leave him alone.”

“Whatever,” Daehwi rolled his eyes (Jihoon couldn’t actually see him roll his eyes, but he definitely heard it in the younger’s voice). “If you’re here, that means Jinyoung’s done with class too. Later, losers!”

Woojin grunted out a goodbye while Jihoon didn’t even bother, letting sleep take over him again for the third time that day.

***

When Jihoon finally woke up feeling refreshed, the first thing he saw was his best friend walking out of their bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

“Put on a shirt, heathen,” he hissed and threw one of his many stuffed animals sitting on his bed at Woojin, who caught the doll with a small grunt.

“Morning to you too, sunshine,” Woojin grumbled before throwing Jihoon’s doll back. “Wanna get dinner? It’s almost 9.”

“Holy shit, I slept for that long?” Jihoon blinked the sleep out of his eyes while unlocking his phone to check the time. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Because I was sleeping too, why else?” Woojin rolled his eyes. “Besides, you’ve had rough week, haven’t you? All of your projects were due today for midterm grades, right?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon sighed and sat up. “What should we eat?”

“I kind of want ramen,” Woojin wrinkled his nose. “Not instant ramen. I want the authentic Japanese shit that I probably can’t afford.”

“I want donkatsu. Wanna go to Raku? Sungwoon hyung’s working today, right?”

“Sure,” Woojin yawned. “Are you going to get dressed or just go like that?”

Jihoon looked down at his current attire. He was wearing a hoodie (it was Woojin’s, probably, if he was being honest) and sweatpants. “I’ll just change into jeans real quick and then we can go.” He got out of bed and looked for the pants he had been wearing earlier today. “Fuck, why do I always just throw my clothes around? I regret my entire life.”

“You say this every time, but never bother to fix it.” Woojin snorted and tossed Jihoon his pants, which had been sitting on Woojin’s chair. “You always throw them to my side, too. I need to know what kind of message you’re trying to send me.”

“Shut up,” Jihoon mumbled, yanking his pants on. “Come on, let’s go. I’m starving.” He grabbed his phone and wallet before heading out, Woojin following close behind him.

***

Objectively speaking, Jihoon knew that Woojin was a good-looking guy. He spoke in a Busan _satoori_ , which already made him ten times more attractive than the normal male. He was also tan and muscular. Not like the body builders or Kim Jong Kook muscular, but the nice lean muscular that people seemed to find attractive these days. His snaggletooth was also something that added to Woojin’s individual charm, Jihoon would admit. He was a dancer, to top it all off. It was like the finishing touch to an already well-made cake.

That was Woojin off-stage, though. When Woojin was on-stage doing what he loved to do most, it was like he was a whole different person. Jihoon could readily admit that even he had felt his heart stutter a few times when he watched Woojin’s performances, but who wouldn’t? The passion that was shown in Woojin’s eyes – that was something that could make anyone’s heart flutter.

Despite all of his charming points, though, Jihoon knew there was another side to Woojin that not many people outside of his social circle saw. For one, Woojin was a triple-A type. He was always nagging at Jihoon, who lived in chaos, to clean up his side of the room, to do his laundry _before_ he ran out of clean clothes, not after, to throw away the pieces of scrap paper that was always cluttering up his desk.

Yes, they were best friends, but Woojin could be _such_ a mom sometimes.

Woojin was also painfully shy. Not shy in the sense that he stopped talking when there were strangers around, but shy as in he never went out of his way to, well, leave his comfort zone. Out of the two of them, Jihoon was the more sociable one. He and Daehwi were the ones who had dragged Woojin out of his comfort zone and forced the boy to make more friends other than the two of them plus Jinyoung. They were thus introduced to Daniel and Seongwoo from the dance team, who had sort of adopted Woojin as their own, and Minhyun, which by extension led to them meeting the ever-so-psychotic Jaehwan.

That wasn’t the end of it, though. Sometimes, when the two of them were relaxing in their rooms, Woojin would sit up and announce that he had something important to say and then proceed to drag Jihoon out to the gym. Jihoon hated physical activities more than anything, and Woojin knew this, which is why every now and then he made it his life mission to drag Jihoon to their university gym and spend at least an hour there.

In short, Woojin was a messy bitch who lived to make Jihoon's life harder than it already was, and Jihoon hated him.

And so, when Hyungseob came to him the following Tuesday gushing about Woojin, Jihoon couldn’t bring himself to relate. At all.

“Woojin and I set up a date for next Saturday,” Hyungseob announced in lieu of a greeting. Jihoon looked up from his phone and blinked at the boy owlishly.

“Saturday?” Jihoon tilted his head. “I thought he had dance practice on Saturdays.”

“We’re going to grab lunch before his practice. He invited me to come watch if I wanted to, and I said yes. Some of my friends are on the team too, so I thought it’d be nice to stop by and say hi,” Hyungseob grinned.

Jihoon nodded thoughtfully. “That sounds nice. Where are you going to go for lunch?”

“No clue,” Hyungseob shrugged. “We still have a few days, so we decided to see what we’re craving on Friday and decide then. Thank you so, _so_ much for introducing us.” Hyungseob squealed. He actually squealed. Jihoon squinted at his friend.

“I still think you could do better.”

“Jihoon, shut up,” Hyungseob laughed. “I’m serious, though. I think I really like him! To be honest I just thought that he was really hot when I saw him perform at the cultural festival a while back, but his personality’s really nice too! We’ve only be texting for a few days but he told me to feel better and take lots of fluids when I was feeling sick this weekend. He’s so caring! None of my ex-boyfriends were like that.”

“You were sick?” Jihoon gave his friend a worried look. “Be careful. I heard a nasty flu’s going around these days.”

“Aw, you’re caring too!” Hyungseob gave Jihoon an awkward hug over their lecture seats. “You and Woojin are so soft. Are your other friends like this too? Is this a friend-group thing? Can I get in on it?”

Jihoon thought about Daehwi’s violent tendencies and violent outburst, and the philosophical bullshit Jinyoung liked to pull out of his ass at times, along with his snarky mouth that lived for chaos (he could never forget the way he roasted him and all of their friends – including their sunbaes – during movie night the other week).

“No, definitely not.” He shook his head firmly. “My friends are demons. Stay away from them, okay?”

Hyungseob laughed. “You’re so funny, Jihoon.”

“I try,” Jihoon shrugged. “Anyways, keep me updated. I can and will kick Park Woojin’s ass if he does anything to hurt you.”

“Aw, so sweet,” Hyungseob cooed. “Thanks. I’ll definitely keep you updated.”

“And don’t forget my steak if this works out.”

“I repeat; your dreams are too big.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes:  
> -this is mentioned a few times in this chapter (and once in the last i think) but hyungseob is,, truly an angel in dis fic. u will find out why later on. but pls show this boy sum love  
> -2park are best friends, yes. but do they hate each other? also yes. would they fight anyone that hurt them? yes x1000  
> -dont ask me why daehwi calls 2park 'hyung' when they're supposed to be the same age in this fic. idk why either. it just makes sense to me.  
> -jihoon needs his beauty rest leave him alone !!  
> -sungwoon & daniel both work at a jap food restaurant called "raku". sungwoon works thurs&sat nights while daniel works mon&sun nights  
> -woojin has dance practice every saturday from 3 to 7 with ongniel; he also works at a cafe on sundays from 4 to 11pm  
> -jihoon works at a bookstore on tuesdays and saturdays!!
> 
> i'll be adding little notes like this probably at the end of each chapter :'))) just little tidbits that may or may not be mentioned in the story but are implied!!
> 
> i hope u enjoyed this chapter too <3  
> comments + kudos are appreciated!! :))


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We’re best friends,” Daehwi snapped. “When people see you, they think of me.”
> 
> “I don’t think that’s how it works,” Jihoon piped up from his bed, where he and Jinyoung were picking out a movie to watch.
> 
> “Thank you for your valuable opinion, but I didn’t ask.” Daehwi sniffed.
> 
> “Jeez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today,” Jihoon muttered under his breath.
> 
> “Ignore him, he’s feeling a little stressed,” Jinyoung whispered back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just in case anyone was curious:  
> -jisung is a grad student majoring in psychology with a focus on early childhood behaviors  
> -sungwoon is a fourth year music major (focus on vocal)  
> -minhyun is a third year law student  
> -seongwoo is a third year theater student  
> -jaehwan is a second year music major (focus on vocal and guitar)  
> -daniel is a second year film major  
> -jihoon is a first year art student  
> -woojin is a first year dance major  
> -jinyoung is a first year philosophy major  
> -daehwi is a first year music major (focus on composition)  
> -guan lin is a first year linguistics major

from: **hwi**

r u rly going on that date

to: **hwi**

???

for the millionth time, yes

wat do u even have against hyungseob idgi

have u even met him????

from: **hwi**

i don’t have anything against him don’t u dare put words in my mouth park woojin!!

icb ur rly gonna go on that date tho

like hyung

r e a l l y

to: **hwi**

????

is there smth i should kno ??

y am i not allowed to go on this date w hyungseob

he seems nice

from: **hwi**

UGH ur both so impossible bye!!!!!!

***

Frankly speaking, Woojin didn’t get it. He rarely ever ran into Daehwi during the day because of how opposite their schedules were. By the time Daehwi was finishing up classes for the day, Woojin was just starting his, which made it hard for the two friends to make plans throughout the week, save for dinner plans.

The few times he _did_ see Daehwi, however, just in passing, the younger always gave Woojin a dirty look. Woojin was confused. Had he done something wrong?

“I think Daehwi’s mad at me,” Woojin said. He was on his bed, laid out like a starfish, staring at his ceiling. Jihoon, who was on the floor working on some sketches for class, looked up at him in confusion.

“Woojin,” Jihoon said seriously. “Daehwi is always mad at you.”

“Shut up.”

“So what’s up this time?” Jihoon put his pencils down and gave his best friend his full attention. “What did you do?”

“Nothing.” Woojin groaned and sat up with a pout. “That’s the problem. I literally did nothing wrong? Like I don’t know why I’m getting all this passive-aggressiveness from him.”

“Did you like, insult his cat or something?” Jihoon questioned.

“Daehwi doesn’t have a cat.”

“See, maybe that’s the problem,” Jihoon shrugged. “Maybe he got a cat and he was waiting for you to tell him how cute it is but you didn’t.”

Woojin squinted at his roommate. “Are you even listening to yourself speak right now?”

Jihoon just shrugged in response. “Look, dude, I don’t know why Daehwi’s mad at you. Maybe you didn’t compliment his hair enough. Maybe you took the last French fry while you were eating and he hates you for that. Maybe he discovered that your families were actually mortal enemies in the past and he’s plotting your demise. You just never know with Daehwi unless you ask him.”

“You’re impossible,” Woojin grunted and laid back down. He picked up his phone to text Daehwi, though, because ignoring the bullshit that had just come out of Jihoon’s mouth, the best way to find out _why_ exactly the younger boy was mad at him was to just ask him straight up.

***

to: **hwi**

so can u tell me y ur mad at me

from: **hwi**

???

im not mad at u tho??

to: **hwi**

wtf

evrytime i see u on campus ur always giving me dirty looks tho

wdym ur not mad at me

from: **hwi**

u heard me, loverboy

im not mad at u

to: **hwi**

yes u r

ur mad at me

i can h e a r the passive aggressiveness via text!!

from: **hwi**

¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

***

As his date with Hyungseob got closer and closer, Woojin found himself being slightly excited for it. It had been a while since he’s been on a real, actual date. His last one had been in his second year of high school with a girl named Yoojung.

Yoojung herself was great. She was funny, witty, and was overall just a fun person to be around with.

Their relationship, however, had been a Disaster with a capital ‘D’.

Don’t get him wrong—Woojin had really liked Yoojung. But maybe he hadn’t quite liked her the way that he thought he did. As friends they were great. She had even joined his friend group for a bit before their disaster of a relationship.

After contemplating it and talking it out with his friends and Yoojung herself, they had all reached a conclusion on why their relationship wasn’t going in the direction they thought it would.

Woojin was gay. Yoojung also may or may not have been gay. Woojin was pretty sure she was, though. Last he heard she was dating some model from the arts program named Doyeon.

So, yeah, he could guess that his first real relationship had failed tremendously, but hey! At least Woojin knew now why he had never felt attracted to girls throughout his teen years.

After that, though, he never found the time to date again. He was always busy was keeping up with his schoolwork, dance, taking care of his sister, and somewhat maintaining a social life with his friends.

“So have you guys decided where to go?” Jihoon asked from where he was slouched in his bed reading a comic book with a pocky in his mouth. “Hyungseob likes Western food.”

“Yeah, we’re going to that pizza place downtown.” Woojin scribbled some answers down for his chemistry homework.

“Oh, nice. The deep dish place? Wait, won’t that be a little too heavy for you? You have dance practice right after, don’t you?”

Woojin set down his pencil and looked up at Jihoon in alarm. “Oh, shit.”

“You forgot, didn’t you? How could you forget? Dance practice is literally the highlight of your week, according to yourself.”

Woojin groaned and reached for his phone to text Hyungseob. “Shut up. I was preoccupied, alright? I didn’t even know today was Thursday until you spammed me with crying emojis while you were in chem.” He hoped Hyungseob liked sushi.

“Hyungseob doesn’t like raw fish.”

“Fuck.”

***

“So,” Daehwi gave him a judging look. “What are you going to wear?”

Woojin squinted at the boy. “Weren’t you mad at me?”

“For the millionth time, _no_.” Daehwi rolled his eyes. “Now stop stalling and hurry up and show me what you’re going to wear on your date tomorrow. I may be against this date for reasons better left unsaid, but that won’t stop me from making sure you’re not shaming my name in public.”

“Why would the way I dress shame your name?” Woojin asked pointedly.

“We’re best friends,” Daehwi snapped. “When people see you, they think of me.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Jihoon piped up from his bed, where he and Jinyoung were picking out a movie to watch.

“Thank you for your valuable opinion, but I didn’t ask.” Daehwi sniffed.

“Jeez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today,” Jihoon muttered under his breath.

“Ignore him, he’s feeling a little stressed,” Jinyoung whispered back.

“We’re watching Annabelle: Creation,” Jihoon smirked and paid for the movie, feeling triumphant in his petty revenge.

“I can hear you,” Daehwi hissed. “Woojin hyung, show me your outfit!”

“Um.” Was Woojin’s intelligent response. “I don’t have one? Was I supposed to plan out what I was going to wear beforehand?”

Various forms of affirmation came from around the room and Woojin was Lost™. Did people really do that? This was only a casual date (to his knowledge, anyways) and the place they were grabbing lunch at wasn’t upscale at all. He hadn’t felt any need to dress up.

“Oh, my God. You’re hopeless,” Daehwi whispered. “Jihoon hyung, why would you do this to Hyungseob hyung? He deserves so much more.”

“That’s what I said.” Jihoon rolled his eyes.

“I’m right here,” Woojin scowled.

“Nobody cares.” The three of them said. Woojin looked at Jinyoung with a hurt expression, to which the latter shrugged.

“You know we love you.”

“I doubt that sometimes,” Woojin mused.

Daehwi, who began to rummage through Woojin’s (small) closet, made noises of discontent. “Hyung, why is everything you own black? Don’t you have any colors?”

“That’s Jihoon’s thing and you know it.” Woojin gave Daehwi a flat look.

Jihoon looked up from his laptop. “That is my thing. Everyone and their grandmas know that Woojin is a firm believer in ‘black is the new black’. He’s too cool for colors, apparently.”

Daehwi grunted and opened Jihoon’s closet and took out a pink sweat shirt. “This should work. Jihoon hyung, this is oversized, right?”

“Is anything Jihoon hyung owns _not_ oversized?” Jinyoung muttered under his breath. Both Jihoon and Daehwi ignored him.

“Yes, Woojin can borrow my clothes, thanks for asking! And yeah, that’s oversized.” Jihoon squinted at the sweat shirt Daehwi was holding up. “Wait, he should have that exact same one buried somewhere, actually. Someone got us matching sweat suits as a joke one year.”

“Oh, I remember that,” Jinyoung laughed. “It was Seonho, right?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Jihoon nodded. “Did you bring it, Woojin?”

“Probably,” Woojin frowned and dug through his drawers. “Can someone remind me to reorganize these drawers, by the way.”

“By someone you mean Jihoon hyung, right?” Daehwi asked as he put Jihoon’s sweat shirt back.

“Reorganize your drawers,” Jihoon said flatly. “Can we watch the movie now? The popcorn’s getting cold.”

“Ugh.” Daehwi made his way over to where Jinyoung was sitting and immediately began to cuddle with him. “Are we really going to watch Annabelle?”

“Yes. And no PDA on my bed,” Jihoon scowled as he pushed the couple off his bed. “Why are we watching the movie in our room? We have a lounge downstairs.”

“Oh.” Everyone paused and looked at the art student, who looked back at them with an unimpressed look.

“You’re so smart,” Woojin cooed and bounced over to give Jihoon a mocking pat on the head.

“Our hyung is so smart.” Daehwi and Jinyoung stood up and gave Jihoon a standing ovation. “What would we do without you?”

“I hate everyone in this family.”

***

to: **hyungseob**

hey!

i just wanted to say sorry again for changing the location last minute :(

from: **hyungseob**

no problem!

we probably should’ve thought abt ur dance practice before deciding lmao

to: **hyungseob**

yeah… lmao

anyways im looking forward to Saturday! :)

from: **hyungseob**

same! :)

to: **hyungseob**

^^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes:  
> -daehwi has nothing against hyungseob!! hes just frustrated at 2park thats all (but then again who isnt)  
> -jinhwi and 2park try to have movie night every other fridays or they go out (sometimes to chill or sometimes to party)
> 
> i think that's it,, if theres anything else well  
> ull find out in the next ch !! LOL
> 
> hope you enjoyed <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why are you eating as if your life depends on it?” Woojin asked. Hyungseob looked up and blinked owlishly.
> 
> “I’m an art student.”
> 
> “I asked too many questions, I’m sorry.” Woojin offered Hyungseob some of his budae jjigae, which Hyungseob took graciously.

Woojin and Hyungseob’s date went without a hitch, and Woojin found himself genuinely enjoying the other boy’s presence. Neither of them had any particular cravings, so the pair decided to go to a traditional Korean restaurant downtown.

“I haven’t had non-instant kimchi jjigae in weeks,” Hyungseob groaned as he ate his food with much gusto. Woojin watched as his date ate as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks, and wordlessly moved the side dishes closer towards him.

“Why are you eating as if your life depends on it?” Woojin asked. Hyungseob looked up and blinked owlishly.

“I’m an art student.”

“I asked too many questions, I’m sorry.” Woojin offered Hyungseob some of his budae jjigae, which Hyungseob took graciously.

After lunch, the pair wandered around for a bit trying to digest the food they ate while conversing lightly. Woojin learned that Hyungseob had a younger brother who was seven years younger than him, and that his parents had allowed him to pursue art if he maintained good grades throughout high school.

“I studied really hard. It was luck that I placed in the top ranks,” Hyungseob shrugged. “I’m just glad my parents were chill about me doing art instead of trying to force me to become a doctor or something. I might’ve cried. I seriously hate chemistry so much.”

“You’re being humble,” Woojin pointed out. “It wasn’t just luck, it was your hard work that let you get those kinds of grades. Be proud of that.”

Hyungseob flashed Woojin a grateful grin. “Thanks. Enough about me, though. How about you? Any stories to share?”

Woojin hummed thoughtfully. “I think my high school experience was pretty normal. The fact that I had Jihoon, Daehwi, and Jinyoung around made it so hectic, I think.”

“Do share those stories,” Hyungseob linked his arm with Woojin’s. “I’m curious about high school Woojin and Jihoon, to be honest. How long have you guys been friends?”

Woojin wrinkled his nose. “Uh, since primary school? I remember I tripped and fell and ruined his sandcastle. I don’t think he’s forgiven me for that yet.”

Hyungseob laughed loudly. “Oh man. That sounds like Jihoon.”

“Right?” Woojin snorted. “I even helped him rebuild it afterwards, that demon.”

“So you guys have known each other for over ten years, huh,” Hyungseob mused. “It must be nice having a childhood friend like that. What about Daehwi and Jinyoung?”

“I met Daehwi when he moved into the apartment next to mine in fourth grade. It’s funny because he was _my_ neighbor but Jihoon actually became friends with him first,” Woojin told him. “We met Jinyoung through Jihoon in middle school. He was in the same class as Jihoon, but the poor kid was so shy he didn’t have any friends until Jihoon approached him.”

“So are you telling me you met all of your best friends through Jihoon?” Hyungseob giggled. “Jihoon’s really sociable, huh.”

“Yeah,” Woojin nodded in agreement. “He was always the more sociable one out of the two of us. It’s thanks to him that I have Daehwi and Jinyoung to rely on, too.”

As Woojin told Hyungseob of the adventures the four of them had in middle school and high school, Hyungseob couldn’t help but notice how fond Woojin sounded when he talked of Jihoon in particular. The way he talked about Jihoon was different from the way he talked about Daehwi and Jinyoung, and it made Hyungseob raise an eyebrow. How curious.

“–and he had the nerve to blame me,” Woojin rolled his eyes. “As if it was my fault he stayed up all night playing games instead of studying for the calculus exam.”

“Jihoon hasn’t changed, I see,” Hyungseob laughed. “He seems like the carefree type.”

Woojin sighed and shook his head. “Yeah. All he really cared about in high school were art and theater. It’s not like he didn’t work hard on his studies, either, though. He did get good grades for someone who decided to prioritize his dreams instead of ranks. I remember our teachers tried to get Jihoon to try harder at school because of his potential, but Jihoon wanted to do what he loved, not what people expected him to do.”

“You kind of sound like Euiwoong,” Hyungseob remarked, sounding amused. “Are you going to lecture me on capitalism and how we should fight society’s standards too?”

“Isn’t Euiwoong a math major?” Woojin raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but he’s a math major because he genuinely likes math,” Hyungseob shuddered. “How anyone can enjoy math is beyond me. You know he solves calculus problems _for fun_?”

“The horror,” Woojin gasped jokingly. Hyungseob laughed and shoved Woojin lightly. The two of them bantered back and forth teasingly for a bit before Hyungseob pointed out that they should probably get going if Woojin wanted to get to dance practice on time.

They made it to the studio with time to spare and Hyungseob bounced off to say hi to his friends while Woojin went over to where Daniel and Seongwoo were stretching.

“Hey, Daniel hyung. Seongwoo hyung,” he greeted and began stretching as well.

“Woojin!” Daniel grinned. “How was your week?”

“Tiring,” Woojin sighed. “But that’s college. How about yours, hyung?”

“It was alright,” Daniel shrugged.

“Was that Hyungseob you walked in with?” Seongwoo asked, craning his neck slightly to catch a glimpse of the boy. “He’s friends with Zheng Ting, right?”

“Yeah, I think Hyungseob mentioned being from the same high school as him,” Woojin nodded.

“Why did you come together?” Daniel asked Woojin. “I didn’t know you two were friends.”

“Jihoon introduced us,” Woojin told Daniel and Seongwoo, who raised their eyebrows. “We went out for lunch and walked around town for a bit before practice.”

“So, a date?” Seongwoo asked slowly, his eyebrows furrowing a bit. “You went on a date with Hyungseob?”

“Yeah,” Woojin blinked.

“What about Jihoon?” Daniel blurted out. Woojin gave Daniel a confused look.

“Um, what about Jihoon?”

“Aren’t you guys dating?” Daniel returned Woojin’s look of confusion.

“No…?” Woojin frowned. “Why would you think that?”

Daniel looked baffled and opened his mouth to say something when Seongwoo quickly covered his mouth. “Must be our mistake,” Seongwoo gave Woojin a grin. “Don’t worry about it, Woojin.”

“Um, okay?” Woojin was still confused, but let the matter drop. “Has Taehyun hyung said anything about the new choreography?”

“No, not yet. I think he’s going to talk to us about it today.” Seongwoo told Woojin.

“Hey, Woojin,” Hyungseob bounced over to the three of them. “Hello, Seongwoo sunbae, Daniel sunbae!”

“Hi, Hyungseob.” Seongwoo and Daniel chorused.

“Woojin, I need to get going. I have some projects that I need to finish by next week.” Hyungseob pouted at Woojin, who gave him a pat on the head.

“That’s okay.” Woojin smiled at Hyungseob reassuringly. “Do you want me to walk you out?”

“No, that’s okay,” Hyungseob waved his hands. “I’ll text you later, okay? Bye Woojin. Bye, sunbaes!”

When Hyungseob left, Seongwoo turned to Woojin with a small smirk. “He’s adorable. Good job, Woojin.”

“What do you mean good job?” Woojin grumbled. “I didn’t even do anything.”

Seongwoo just laughed and pat Woojin’s head. Woojin slapped Seongwoo’s hand away with a scowl and an angry, “I’m not a kid!”, causing both Seongwoo and Daniel to burst out into laughter.

***

Woojin collapsed on the floor once practice was over, taking a moment to catch his breath. Once he deemed himself ready to live again, he got up and stumbled towards where they kept their bags and other belongings.

“I want to die.” He grunted as he picked up his bag.

“Same,” Seongwoo groaned as he stretched. “Are you going to pick up Jihoon at the bookstore now?”

“Yeah,” Woojin said as he stretched out his back. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Seongwoo hyung. Bye, Daniel hyung!”

“Bye, Woojin,” Daniel waved at the younger. Woojin called out good byes to the other members of the club before leaving and heading out to the bookstore Jihoon worked at. It was tradition for them to grab dinner before heading home once Jihoon’s shift ended at 8.

Woojin stopped by their dorm to take a quick shower before heading out to pick Jihoon up. He arrived at the bookstore fifteen minutes before 8 and pushed the door, which opened with a light jingle. Jihoon’s head popped up from behind the counter and he waved Woojin over with a bright smile.

“Hey!” Jihoon said happily as Woojin made his way behind the counter. “How was practice?”

“Death,” Woojin grunted before setting his bag down on the ground and plopping down on the stool next to Jihoon’s. “How’s work?”

“Boring as always,” Jihoon pouted. “I managed to finish my sketch for my next piece, though, so there’s that. How was your date with Hyungseob? Did you treat him well?”

“You talk as if Hyungseob’s your son or something,” Woojin rolled his eyes and pushed Jihoon’s head back a little. “The date was good. He’s easy to talk to, so that’s nice.”

“That’s great!” Jihoon smiled at him brightly. “I hope this works out. I have steak on the line.”

Woojin put Jihoon in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles on Jihoon’s head. “Did you really sell me off for steak? Hyungseob told me all about it, you brat.”

“Hey! Have some respect! I’m still older than you by 6 months!” Jihoon spluttered and squirmed around to escape Woojin’s hold. “And you said the date was good, so this is killing two birds with one stone!”

“And how is it killing two birds with one stone, exactly?” Woojin raised an eyebrow and let Jihoon go, the latter rubbing his neck with a small pout.

“You get a boyfriend after being single for the past hundred years,” Jihoon pointed out. “And I, a starving college student, get food out of this! Isn’t this a win-win?”

“Whatever,” Woojin rolled his eyes playfully. “Shouldn’t you start closing up, by the way?”

Jihoon looked up at the clock in alarm and saw that it was five minutes past eight. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!” Jihoon groaned and jumped over the counter. “Don’t tell my boss I just did that.”

“No promises,” Woojin smirked. Jihoon ignored him as he began to close the store. Woojin watched as Jihoon turned the “we’re open!” sign over so that it read “sorry, we’re closed!” on the other side.

“What do you want for dinner?” Jihoon asked as he went around the bookstore to see if any books had lost their way and returned them to their original spots if he saw any. Woojin hummed and leaned back on the stool he was sitting on, hand on the counter to steady himself in case he should fall.

“I’m not really sure. What about you?” Woojin asked.

“Dakbal!” Jihoon called from somewhere in the back of the store.

“You and your love for chicken never fails to amaze me,” Woojin shook his head in amusement. “The usual place?”

“You know it!” Woojin could hear the smile in Jihoon’s voice, and he couldn’t help smiling back even if Jihoon couldn’t see.

***

from: **seobseobie**

hey how was practice?

sorry i couldn’t stay to watch :(

to: **seobseobie**

practice was good! and dw abt it lol

ur grades come first

also did u change ur name on my phone???

from: **seobseobie**

yes hehe

did you just notice??

to: **seobseobie**

yeah lol

i don’t rly check my phone that often if u couldn’t tell

from: **seobseobie**

i could tell ㅋㅋㅋ

what are you up to now?

to: **seobseobie**

just got back to my dorm after grabbing dinner w jihoon!

we ate dakbal

_dakbal.jpg_

wbu? did u eat dinner yet?

from: **seobseobie**

yeah i had dinner with euiwoong ^^

_donkatsu.jpg_

my donkatsu trumps your dakbal

to: **seobseobie**

dont tell jihoon that or he’ll go after ur head lol

he loves all things chicken

from: **seobseobie**

oh no

pls don’t expose me

im too cute to die

to: **seobseobie**

LOL

ur lucky i think that statement is true

ok well im gonna go finish up some hw and sleep early

i have a long shift at the café tmrw

from: **seobseobie**

okay!!

good luck at work tomorrow :)

maybe ill stop by to do some work

to: **seobseobie**

yh feel free to stop by anytime!

goodnight, seob :)

from: **seobseobie**

goodnight woojin! ^^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> long time no update;;  
> im sry it took me so long to write this chapter cause i kept erasing everything cause i wasnt satisfied with how it was turning out Q_Q this chapter is mostly a filler for the rest of the story so sigh u win sum u lose sum amirite
> 
> some notes:  
> -budae jjigae is also known as army stew and its kind of similar (in my opinion) to kimchi stew except they add a lot more stuff to it (like spam, pork, ramen, more veggies, etc.)  
> -euiwoong is also aged up to join 2park + jinhwi + hyungseob in college!  
> -yuehua sprouts all went to the same high school and thats how they know each other :) zheng ting is on the dance team with woojin + ongniel! hes also dating eunki lmao (justin is still in high school)  
> -2park have a tradition on saturdays to get dinner together and just hang out together. sometimes jinhwi joins them, sometimes not. (they'll never tell daehwi this but 2park prefers it when its just them two but shh)  
> -i mentioned this in one of my previous notes but woojin works at a cafe near the school on sunday nights!! he works from 4-11pm with seongwoo, who also works thursday mornings. minhyun works thursday and sunday mornings, and jaehwan works wednesday and sunday mornings! (this is how woojin met minhwan, initially)  
> -dakbal is chicken feet and its rly rly good but a lot of ppl cant eat it/dont like it lol. u usually eat it with like soju or smth like that but u can just enjoy it as a meal too! which is what 2park does
> 
> **please note that as of right now, jihoon & woojin genuinely don't realize that they're basically in love with each other LOLOL. they're dumb. but thats ok. soon they will be slightly less dumb. :)
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this chapter!!  
> kudos + comments are always appreciated ❀.(*´◡`*)❀.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hi, friends,” Daehwi said as he walked in with soup and medicine in hand. “How are we feeling today? Stupid, or stupid?”
> 
> “Hi, hyungs,” Jinyoung greeted, walking in after Daehwi. “Jihoon hyung, you alive over there?”
> 
> “No,” Jihoon said stubbornly before turning away from the two of them. “Go away and leave me to die.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: brief mentions of underage?? drinking in this chapter  
> (technically they're not underage here cause they're in college but jinhwi + guan lin are underage in real life so)  
> (2park are legal in korea irl tho since they're 1999 line which makes them 20)
> 
> double update!! make sure you read chapter 4 first :)

“40 degrees Celsius,” Woojin sighed as he read the thermometer aloud. “I have so many things I want to say to you, but I don’t even have the energy to lecture right now.”

Jihoon let out a pathetic cough followed by a sneeze and reached for the box of tissues sitting on the nightstand next to his bed. “Don’t bother with the lecture. I’ve learned my lesson, I swear.” He blew his nose and collapsed onto his bed. “Fuck, I have so many regrets.”

“I told you not to drink so much,” Woojin said, sounding tired. He sat down on Jihoon’s bed and helped the elder tuck himself in. “Especially with Jaehwan hyung and Seongwoo hyung around. You know those two are messy drunks.”

“I know,” Jihoon groaned. “But I was stressed. And stressed Jihoon does questionable things. Stressed and drunk Jihoon does a lot of questionable things.”

“Jumping into the fountain with Jaehwan hyung screaming ‘jump’ in the background and then taking your hoodie off afterwards doesn’t go under questionable things, it goes under stupid decisions,” Woojin pointed out dryly. “This could’ve possibly been avoided if you had just kept your hoodie and jacket on. You know, like I tried to tell you.”

“You should know by now that drunk Jihoon doesn’t like listening to Woojin,” Jihoon pouted. “I don’t even listen to you sober. Why should I listen to you when I’m drunk?”

“To avoid situations like this happening, maybe?” Woojin raised an eyebrow. Jihoon’s pout got bigger but before he could say anything else there was a knock on their door.

“Don’t open it,” Jihoon closed his eyes. “I can already hear Daehwi’s voice and it’s giving me a headache.”

Woojin laughed but got up to open the door anyways. Daehwi would only get louder if they kept the door closed, and Woojin had _some_ sympathy for his sick roommate.

“Hi, friends,” Daehwi said as he walked in with soup and medicine in hand. “How are we feeling today? Stupid, or stupid?”

“Hi, hyungs,” Jinyoung greeted, walking in after Daehwi. “Jihoon hyung, you alive over there?”

“No,” Jihoon said stubbornly before turning away from the two of them. “Go away and leave me to die.”

“Does that mean I’m allowed to leave too?” Woojin asked jokingly, raising his hand as if they were in class.

“No,” Jihoon gave Woojin a grumpy look, which Woojin laughed at. “Who’s going to take care of me then?”

“Christ,” Jinyoung said under his voice. Woojin and Jihoon ignored him.

“Didn’t you say you were going to catch a movie with Hyungseob hyung before dance practice?” Daehwi interrupted the two. “When are you leaving?”

“I cancelled cause of patient zero over there,” Woojin nodded at Jihoon, who was currently trying to wrap the blankets around himself and was vaguely beginning to resemble a burrito. “Are you cold? Do you want more blankets?”

“Yes, please,” Jihoon sniffed. “God bless you, Park Woojin.”

“I’m amazing, I know,” Woojin rolled his eyes as he grabbed his own blanket from his bed and put it on top of Jihoon.

“Was Hyungseob hyung okay with you cancelling on him like that?” Jinyoung raised an eyebrow as he observed his ignorant friends. “Ouch, why’d you pinch me, Daehwi?”

“Shut up,” Daehwi hissed, and Jinyoung pouted.

“Yeah, he was cool with it. It’s not like I wanted to cancel,” Woojin sighed. Jihoon frowned as he felt the guilt creeping onto him.

“You can go, you know. I was just being dramatic. I’ll probably be fine after some medicine and sleep,” Jihoon nudged Woojin with his blanket-covered foot. “Text Hyungseob!”

“No, it’s okay,” Woojin ruffled Jihoon’s hair. “He was at Zheng Ting hyung’s party and got really drunk last night too, apparently. He said he was feeling too hungover to watch a movie anyways, so.”

“Wow, what a coincidence,” Daehwi remarked dryly. His tone went unnoticed by Woojin and Jihoon, however.

Jihoon sighed, still feeling bad. “Okay, well if he texts you asking to meet up don’t feel obligated to stay and look after me. I’m the one who set you guys up. How bad would it be if I kept you guys from going on a date?”

“Not bad at all,” Jinyoung muttered under his breath so that only Daehwi could hear.

“So, how did this happen?” Daehwi ignored his snarky boyfriend and gestured towards the sickly Jihoon and exasperated Woojin. “Jinyoung and I left before anyone got too drunk, and when we were leaving, Jihoon hyung, I remember you were definitely sober and healthy.”

Woojin snorted and Jihoon made a face. “Do you want to tell the story or should I?” Woojin smirked as he watched Jihoon bury himself into the blankets.

“You tell the story,” Jihoon said, his voice muffled by the blankets.

“Okay,” Woojin snorted again before turning towards Daehwi and Jinyoung, who were looking at them with raised eyebrows. “So after you left, Jaehwan hyung and Seongwoo hyung convinced Jihoon to play beer pong with them–”

“Worst mistake of my life,” Jihoon mumbled from under the blankets.

“–except that they didn’t use just beer. They mixed it with soju so that it was stronger,” Woojin rolled his eyes. “And everyone and their grandparents know that Jihoon has the shittiest aim to exist in the universe–”

“I will set you on fire,” Jihoon hissed. Woojin ignored him.

“–and so he lost spectacularly to the two hyungs and got piss drunk,” Woojin rolled his eyes. “Jaehwan hyung was already tipsy when they started the game so he was pretty drunk too, and Seongwoo hyung was definitely getting there.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain how he managed to get himself diseased in the last twelve hours I haven’t seen him,” Daehwi frowned.

“I’m getting there, be patient,” Woojin scolded jokingly. “Anyways, after the three of them got drunk, Daniel hyung, Minhyun hyung, and I decided it would be best if we left and took them home.”

“Notice how the other four are in relationships with each other while those two are being idiots,” Jinyoung pointed out quietly enough so that Woojin and Jihoon couldn’t hear him.

“On the way back to the dorms, though, Jaehwan hyung dared Seongwoo hyung and Jihoon to jump into that huge fountain on the Quad.”

“They didn’t,” Daehwi gasped before turning to look at Jihoon, who was still buried under the blankets. “Jihoon hyung! I know you’re an idiot, but this is a lot even for you! It’s like negative six degrees outside, what’s wrong with you?!”

“I know,” Jihoon wailed, finally emerging from the blankets with a pout. “But I was drunk, okay? And Seongwoo hyung was jumping in before I could even process what Jaehwan hyung said and before I knew it I was in the fountain too.”

“God, you’re so stupid,” Jinyoung groaned. “I can’t believe Woojin hyung has to put up with you.”

“I can’t believe it myself either,” Woojin rolled his eyes. “That’s not even the best part. After we managed to get the two of them out of the fountain, our dearest Jihoonie thought that if he took off his wet hoodie and jacket, he would be less wet.”

“This is why you’re an art major and not a science major,” Daehwi rolled his eyes.

“Lee Daehwi, I’ll set you on fire too,” Jihoon glared.

“What the hell did he do with his clothes, then?” Jinyoung asked in confusion. “And where were you when he started taking off his clothes, Woojin hyung?”

“Picking up the clothes he threw onto the ground and chasing after him,” Woojin said flatly. “I tried to give him my jacket but he just started screaming and ran off before I could do anything. I literally chased him around the entire campus before he got too tired to keep running.”

“Oh, my God.” Daehwi sighed.

“He also made me give him a piggyback ride back the dorms because he claimed, and I quote, that his legs were falling off,” Woojin concluded the story with an unamused glare directed at Jihoon. “I thought my back was going to freeze.”

“Sorry?” Jihoon squeaked out, ducking under the covers again. “I’ll treat you to dinner when I’m better, okay?”

“I better be getting more than just one dinner for the struggle I went through last night,” Woojin grumbled unhappily.

“You two are idiots,” Daehwi said flatly.

***

Jihoon was, thankfully, feeling better by the time Woojin got back from dance practice and managed to eat a few bites of the fried rice Woojin had picked up on the way back to their dorm.

“You should take the medicine again before you go to sleep,” Woojin told Jihoon, who made a face.

“I hate taking medicine,” Jihoon sulked as he helped pack the leftovers away.

“Maybe you shouldn’t jump into fountains in the middle of the night when it’s freezing, then,” Woojin teased. “How’s your headache?”

“Better, I guess,” Jihoon sighed. “I’m going to brush my teeth now in case I fall asleep during the movie.”

“Okay,” Woojin nodded and set up his laptop while he waited for Jihoon to finish brushing his teeth. “Are you sure you want to watch a movie? You should just sleep.”

“I slept all day, my back hurts,” Jihoon grunted as he stretched. “Where’s the medicine?”

“Here,” Woojin passed him the cold medicine Daehwi had picked up for them earlier. “You have water?”

“Yeah, right here,” Jihoon held up his water bottle and downed the pills. “Ugh. Did you pick a movie?”

“Have you watched Taxi Driver yet? No, right?” Woojin asked as Jihoon plopped down next to him onto his bed.

“No, I never got the chance to,” Jihoon responded. “Also, why are we watching this on my bed? It’s infected with germs.”

“Because you’re 100% going to fall asleep in the middle and it’s easier for me to leave your bed than having to carry you to yours from mine,” Woojin gave Jihoon a look who made a face in response.

“I won’t fall asleep,” Jihoon argued. “Just watch.”

Not thirty minutes into the movie, Woojin felt a weight on his right shoulder. Rolling his eyes slightly he glanced down and saw Jihoon sleeping peacefully. He shifted slightly so that Jihoon could rest his head on Woojin’s shoulder more comfortably and continued the watch the movie until he felt the fatigue hit him too.

He leaned forward slightly to pause the movie before leaning back and turning his head to get a good look at Jihoon. Without thinking, Woojin raised his hand and lightly traced his finger down Jihoon’s nose before stopping at his lips. He paused and blinked before taking his hand away.

“What the hell am I doing?” he muttered to himself before shifting. “Jihoon. Jihoon, wake up,” he slightly nudged the sleeping boy, who groaned but showed no signs of waking anytime soon. Woojin sighed and brought his right arm up so that he was hugging the boy before moving the two of them around until he could lay Jihoon down on his back.

He got up from Jihoon’s bed and put his laptop away as quietly as he could before he came back to tuck Jihoon in properly and made sure that he looked comfortable.

“Goodnight, you overgrown brat,” Woojin said, even though Jihoon couldn’t hear him, and turned off the lights before going to sleep.

He ignored the way his heart was pounding, and how right it had felt to have Jihoon in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes:  
> -this chapter takes place like 2-3 weeks after the last chapter!! timeline is a bit ambiguous but this story so far has taken place like early to late march so far  
> -40 degrees celsius is 104 degrees fahrenheit  
> -negative 6 degrees celsius is 20 degrees fahrenheit!!  
> -jinhwi being done with 2park being idiots but what else is new  
> -the four of them + guan lin were at a party that sungwoon threw!! hyungseob was at a different party hosted by Zheng Ting and Eunki :)  
> -jaehwan and seongwoo paired up for beer pong while jihoon was paired up with a very drunk sungwoon who ended up throwing the balls at jisung instead of into the cups  
> -ongniel are (obviously) together in this story and minhwan are also a couple!!  
> -i hate 2park
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this chapter!! :') this is my first time writing a story like this so i'm still learning, but please tell me in the comments what you would like to see, how i can improve, etc. !!  
> kudos + comments are always appreciated <3  
> thanks for reading!!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their university had a stretch of road that was sort of famous in the area for the cherry blossom trees that bloomed there.
> 
> “I should tell Woojin to come here with Hyungseob,” Jihoon mumbled to himself when he saw some campus couples taking pictures together by the few trees that had already bloomed. Hyungseob would look good with cherry blossom petals in his hair, Jihoon thought to himself offhandedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for 129 kudos!!!!  
> **this chapter takes place a few weeks after the last one :)

Wednesday afternoon after classes found Jihoon at a café, sipping on coffee and eating a sandwich. The week had been tough, and Jihoon wanted to die. He sighed when he finished his sandwich and stared at his coffee for a bit before packing up to leave. After throwing away the trash he stopped by the counter to say goodbye to Jaehwan, who was working.

“Leaving so soon, Jihoonie?” Jaehwan asked as he washed and dried the coffee mugs. “You got here like thirty minutes ago.”

“Yeah, I just stopped by to say hi and grab something to eat,” Jihoon smiled. “I have to go to the studio now.”

“Holing yourself in the studio again?” Jaehwan teased lightly before frowning. “Don’t forget to answer your phone this time, okay? I don’t want a repeat of Woojin freaking out and making us run around campus only to find you asleep in the studio.”

Jihoon winced. That had happened a few weeks ago, right after he recovered from the bad cold he had. Even though he was feeling better, he got tired easily, and had fallen asleep while working on a painting for class.

“I’m sorry, hyung. I’ll put my ringer on the loudest option possible,” Jihoon apologized.

Jaehwan chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I was just teasing. We managed to get some cute pictures of you curled up on the floor, so it’s fine.”

Jihoon laughed. “Please don’t spread those pictures around. I have an image to maintain,” Jihoon joked before checking his watch. “Okay, I really have to run now. I’ll catch you later, hyung!”

“Bye, Jihoon!” Jaehwan waved goodbye as Jihoon left the café.

It was a nice day out. The weather was finally starting to warm up, and Jihoon could see a few flowers starting to blossom here and there. Their university had a stretch of road that was sort of famous in the area for the cherry blossom trees that bloomed there.

“I should tell Woojin to come here with Hyungseob,” Jihoon mumbled to himself when he saw some campus couples taking pictures together by the few trees that had already bloomed. Hyungseob would look good with cherry blossom petals in his hair, Jihoon thought to himself offhandedly.

***

Once he got to the studio, Jihoon entered what he called his ‘super focused Zen mode’, and what Woojin called his ‘idiotic tunnel-vision state’.

He had two and a half pieces left to finish for his project that was due that Friday. He had been behind compared to his classmates due to being sick and not being able to come to the studio and work on it as much as he would’ve liked to.

Once Jihoon finished getting his supplies out and ready, he sat on the stool and began to work, not noticing the time pass by or his phone constantly pinging with unread messages.

He was so focused on his work that he didn’t notice the door opening and someone walking in and setting a take-out box down next to where he had left his bag. Jihoon continued to work as the person stared at him for a bit before leaving while shaking their head and smiling.

At 8 o’clock, the alarm Jihoon had set for himself went off, jolting Jihoon out of his focus. He blinked slightly and slouched once the fatigue and cramps hit him all at once. Shaking his head to gather his bearings, Jihoon set down his brush and stretched, letting out a content sigh when he felt his joints pop.

“Oh, shit,” Jihoon blinked when he opened his phone to turn off the alarm. He had six missed calls from Woojin, four from Jinyoung, and two from Daehwi. He also had a series of angry texts from Woojin, varying from “where are u” to “i’m going to kill you” to “youre so dead when i find you.”

“Oops,” Jihoon mumbled as he scrolled down to the end of the thread, not bothering to read what he was sure was various forms of threats to his life. When he got to the end of the thread, he mentally sent Jaehwan a thank you for letting Woojin know about his whereabouts.

from: **chamsae**

jaehwan hyung just messaged me telling me ur probably at the studio

stop putting ur phone on silent and answer it sometimes dammit

ur going to give me grey hair smh

Jihoon snorted. Woojin should know by now that when Jihoon went MIA, he was usually holed up in the studio. “Besides,” he pouted as he looked through messages from his other friends. “I did turn my ringer on. How rude, Park Woojin.”

He set down his phone after checking his notifications and got up from the stool to stretch his legs. It was then he noticed the take-out box on the counter where his bag was.

_I’m leaving this because I know you haven’t had dinner yet._   
_I know you’re working hard but that shouldn’t_   
_be at the expense of your health._   
_Don’t skip any meals, idiot._   
_Hwaiting._

Jihoon fought back a grin when he opened the lid and saw that it was fried rice from Sungwoon and Daniel’s workplace. It was out of the way to the studio, so Jihoon knew that Woojin had gone out of the way to pick up his favorite take-out for him.

He snapped a quick picture of the food and sent Woojin a quick snapchat, thanking his friend, to which Woojin responded with a simple thumbs-up.

“So lame, Park Woojin,” Jihoon shook his head as he began to eat.

***

“Jihoon, I’m going to die,” Hyungseob announced when he walked into chemistry. Jihoon looked up from his notes and blinked.

“Why?” he asked, frowning a little. “What happened?”

“School happened,” Hyungseob moaned as he collapsed into his seat dramatically. “Why did I think coming to college and drowning in student debt would be a good idea? I need someone to invent a time-machine so that I can slap high school Hyungseob for being so ambitious.”

Jihoon laughed and gave Hyungseob a pat on the head. “You can do it. After this week we should be pretty free. Is your project for 2-D due tomorrow too?”

“Yes,” Hyungseob grunted into his arms. “I’ve never known peace in my life.”

“Welcome to the club,” Jihoon sighed, thinking of the value study he had left to finish. “Did you study for the quiz?”

Hyungseob jolted and looked up at Jihoon with wide, panicked eyes. “What quiz? We have a quiz today? Why didn’t anyone tell me? I didn’t study!”

Jihoon gave Hyungseob a sympathetic look. “The quiz Professor Lee’s been telling us about since last Thursday? He told us on Tuesday that we would have a quiz today. It’s going to be on atomic structures.”

“Do we have to know how to draw them?” Hyungseob was whispering at this point while glancing at the clock. They had three minutes until class started.

“Yes,” Jihoon said flatly and offered Hyungseob his notebook. “I finished reviewing before you came in. Maybe you should use these three minutes wisely.”

“I want to die.”

“Yes, we talked about this. Now study.”

***

to: **chamsae**

_spicychicken_with_cheese.jpg_

look wat they have @ the dining hall tday!!!!

from: **chamsae**

wtf no way

is there any left im STARVING

to: **chamsae**

no

i ate it all

:))))

from: **chamsae**

wtf u pig

im changing ur name on my phone

to: **chamsae**

(¬▂¬) !!!!!

RUDE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i messed up while writing the notes in the last chapter LOL. i'm following the korean school schedule so our favorite freshmen started school in early march. the last chapter took place in late march and this chapter took place mid-April :)
> 
> some notes:  
> -jaehwan works wednesday & sunday mornings at the cafe woojin works at!  
> -sungwoon & daniel work at a japanese restaurant thats sort of off campus but like just barely  
> -i think jihoon would be an avid snapchatter whereas woojin takes 2 weeks to open his snaps lol (he also sends super lame pictures of his floor/ceiling/feet when hes responding to ppl)  
> -this fic is supposed to be a little fast pace so im skipping some weeks in between chapters but so far woojin & hyungseob have met up every weekend (after jihoon's flu fiasco) and grab lunch or dinner together sometimes on the weekdays  
> -hyungseob is also an art student i mentioned this in one chapter but in case u forgot here u go !! im going to go tag this now  
> -jihoon's name on woojin's phone was "wink boy" but now it's "aegyo pig" !1!!!
> 
> so i think i'm going to try to update this weekly? if you're reading my other fic, the suffering games, i said i would update that one every monday (or friday, but the readers asked for monday) and so i'm going to try to update this every friday!! i have chapter 7 written, and chapters 8, 9, and 10 outlined so i think it should be okay,,
> 
> thank you for reading!!  
> comments + kudos are always appreciated ^^


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Shut up. I’m cold,” Jihoon grumbled and let the blanket rest on his shoulders as he began to unwrap the chicken. “Open the beer, will you?”
> 
> “Alcoholic,” Woojin said under his breath as he opened the first can of beer.
> 
> “I heard that.”
> 
> “You were supposed to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **takes place the Saturday after the last chapter :)  
> (reminder that jihoon and woojin are of age in korea where the fic takes place but they do drink in this chapter!! sorry if ur not comfortable with it)

to: **aegyo pig**

yo

what do u want for dinner tonight

from: **aegyo pig**

???

i want chicken

& i thought u were mtng w hyungseob 2nite???

to: **aegyo pig**

change of plans

he failed his chem quiz so euiwoong’s forcing him to study more

from: **aegyo pig**

lmao

everyone failed dat quiz

it was brutal

to: **aegyo pig**

did u fail too???

from: **aegyo pig**

no :^)

im a good egg

who studied beforehand

to: **aegyo pig**

gj im proud of u

wat chicken do u want

from: **aegyo pig**

half half

spicy + soy sauce plzzzz

can we get beer too pls

chimaek!!!!!!

to: **aegyo pig**

we have work tmrw

from: **aegyo pig**

dont act liek uve never gone to work hungover before

to: **aegyo pig**

…

ill pick u up from the bookstore

lets go eat at hangang

from: **aegyo pig**

kyaa!!

***

The usually crowded Hangang River was surprisingly almost void of people, save for some joggers, when Woojin and Jihoon arrived. Once they found a spot they liked, Woojin spread the small mat he had brought from their dorm and Jihoon set up the chicken and their beer.

The night was a little chilly and Woojin saw Jihoon shivering slightly from the corner of his eye and silently offered the blanket he had brought as well. Jihoon took it with a short “thanks” before wrapping it around himself and resembling a lost child.

“You look like a kid who lost his mom at the mall,” Woojin snickered. Jihoon pouted and swatted at the younger boy.

“Shut up. I’m cold,” Jihoon grumbled and let the blanket rest on his shoulders as he began to unwrap the chicken. “Open the beer, will you?”

“Alcoholic,” Woojin said under his breath as he opened the first can of beer.

“I heard that.”

“You were supposed to.”

Jihoon snorted but accepted the beer nonetheless and watched Woojin open the second can of beer for himself. “Do you want the leg for the spicy chicken or the soy sauce chicken?”

“Whichever. I don’t care,” Woojin leaned back and watched Jihoon look at the chicken with a serious expression and smirked. He was so serious about his chicken.

“Okay. You can have the soy sauce leg,” Jihoon announced after careful deliberation. “I want the spicy one.”

Woojin shrugged. “Okay.” He took the leg from Jihoon’s outstretched hand and took a bite while watching the joggers jog past. “Funny how we picked a spot where we can see people jogging past us clearly to eat our chicken.”

“Life is ironic like that,” Jihoon said and Woojin couldn’t help but snort at the amount of bullshit Jihoon could manage to pull out of his ass.

“You sound like Jinyoung.”

“Please don’t say that. I don’t want to be known for lecturing about the poisonous capitalistic society we live in.”

Woojin laughed and almost choked on his chicken and reached for his beer while coughing. “Give me a warning before you go off like that, will you?”

Jihoon laughed as well and watched his best friend down half his beer in one go. “Where’s the fun in that? I live to see you suffer, Park Woojin.”

“Is that anyway to talk to the person who just treated you to chicken,” Woojin teased Jihoon while waving his chicken leg around. “Be grateful, you broke college student. Your savior is here.”

“Woojin-nim,” Jihoon cried mockingly. “Thank you. You have saved my village from starvation, truly. Thank you for blessing us with this delicious chicken. How can we ever repay you?”

The two of them dissolved into laughter before quieting down to continue eating. Woojin throwing his finished chicken leg into the small plastic bag they had brought for trash. He picked up a piece of the spicy chicken and bit into it before flinching immediately.

“Fuck,” Woojin cursed. “This is so spicy, what the fuck?”

“I know,” Jihoon sucked in a breath, his eyes teary. “Fuck, I didn’t know it would be this spicy. Where’s the cheese dip?”

“Right here,” Woojin threw one of the dips to Jihoon, who caught it, before picking one up for himself and tearing it open. “Holy shit, I see why now Yongguk hyung made us take extra dips before we left.”

“God bless Yongguk hyung,” Jihoon groaned as he shut his eyes tightly, as if that would help the spice leave his tongue. “Oh my God, I might actually die? Fuck.”

“This is worse than that spicy ass volcanic ramen we had,” Woojin hissed. “Why did you order this.”

“Technically you ordered it,” Jihoon pointed out.

“You wanted it,” Woojin rolled his eyes. “You good now?”

“I think so.” Jihoon shuddered a little before eyeing the rest of the spicy chicken distrustfully. “I don’t know if I can handle any more of this.”

“That’s what the cheese dip is for,” Woojin said tiredly. “You better help me finish this. I’m not made of money, you know.”

Jihoon grunted and dipped his chicken in the cheese. “Oh, the cheese makes it a lot better. It’s kind of like dakbal now. With a lot less bone, at least.”

“Awesome,” Woojin said flatly. “I want to die.”

“A recurring theme recently,” Jihoon nodded thoughtfully. “College students wanting to die. How original. Don’t let college take your individuality away, Woojin. It’s taking enough away from us as it is: our money, our livelihood, our TIME.” Jihoon waved his chicken in front of Woojin’s face as he said this, and the latter raised an eyebrow.

“Are you drunk?” Woojin eyed Jihoon’s now-empty beer cans. The elder had downed two cans already.

“No, my tolerance isn’t that bad, you know,” Jihoon pouted before frowning in thought. “Maybe a little tipsy though. Maybe.”

“Oh, yeah. Definitely tipsy,” Woojin said under his breath and rolled his eyes. Jihoon was definitely starting to turn a little red. “No more beer for you, mister.”

“Hey!” Jihoon protested when Woojin took away the can he was about to open. Woojin kept the can out of reach and shook his head.

“No more until you eat some more,” Woojin nodded towards the chicken. There was a little less than half left. Jihoon pouted and crossed his arms, and Woojin rolled his eyes. “You’re not five, Jihoon. Eat your chicken.”

“Meanie,” Jihoon mumbled sadly as he chewed on the chicken. “Jaehwan hyung wouldn’t do this to me.”

“Where did Jaehwan hyung even come from?” Woojin scoffed. “Also, Jaehwan hyung would leave your drunk ass here to suffer. Are you forgetting who has to drag you back to the dorm after this?”

Jihoon gave little ‘hmph’ but continued to eat his chicken obediently. Once he ate a few more bites Woojin gave him the can back and the pair continued to eat while Jihoon chatted Woojin’s ear off.

***

“I’m going to murder you,” Woojin grunted as he somehow managed to get the door to their dorm opened. He groaned when Jihoon began to squirm while giggling. “Stop moving! You’re heavy. I’m too drunk for this.”

After finishing their chicken and beer, the pair went to a nearby convenience store and bought a bottle of soju to share while strolling along the river. On hindsight, that hadn’t been the smartest idea, but Jihoon was drunk and Woojin was definitely getting there, so everything at the time had seemed like a good idea.

“Woojinnie, I’m flying!” Jihoon giggled as the two of them stumbled around their room, Woojin trying to get Jihoon into bed while Jihoon was trying to escape Woojin’s grip. “Let me go! I want to fly!”

“Please,” Woojin gritted his teeth, “stay still. I’m going to die. This was a mistake.”

Jihoon let out a laugh when the two of them finally made it to Jihoon’s bed. He collapsed into bed with a series of giggles and hiccups escaping his mouth and reached out to grab Woojin’s arm before the latter could leave. “Where are you going?”

“The room is spinning,” Woojin groaned instead, screwing his eyes shut and rubbing his temple with his free arm. “Let go of me, I want to brush my teeth.”

Jihoon pouted. “I want to brush my teeth too.”

“Then get up,” Woojin sighed and helped Jihoon sit up. “Do you need me to help you?”

“No, I can brush my teeth by myself,” Jihoon harrumphed and promptly fell onto his face when he tried to stand up. “Wow! The ground is moving! Why is the ground moving?”

“You’re so stupid,” Woojin rolled his eyes and grabbed Jihoon by the arms and dragged him to a stand. “Come on, let’s go brush our teeth.”

“Okay,” Jihoon latched himself onto Woojin’s arm and followed the younger to their bathroom. After brushing their teeth, Woojin helped Jihoon get back into bed, but before he could leave, Jihoon grabbed his arm again.

“What is it now?” Woojin was definitely Too Drunk for this. He just wanted to get some sleep before he had to get up and face his inevitable doom in the form of being hungover as fuck during his seven hour shift at the café.

“Sleep with me,” Jihoon whined and tugged Woojin down. “I’m lonely.”

Woojin sighed and climbed into bed to join Jihoon, who immediately wrapped his arms around Woojin’s waist.

“I’m too drunk for this,” Woojin groaned to himself for the nth time that night. Jihoon was already fast asleep, and Woojin closed his eyes and let sleep take over him soon after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes:  
> -euiwoong and hyungseob r roomies  
> -"chimaek" is literally chicken + beer LOL beer in korean is "maekju" so chicken + maekju = chimaek  
> -soy sauce chicken,, is so good,,, if u have access to it definitely try it omg its my favorite  
> -did 2park just get drunk in public and decide to sleep on the bed together? yes they did  
> -do i hate everything abt this chapter? yes i do. (not literally)
> 
> early update bc i'm going out of town so i wont be able to update on friday :') its also a gift bc GUESS WHO GOT TICKETS TO GO SEE WANNA ONE'S CONCERT???? THIS GIRL DID YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
> KIM JAEHWAN I AM COMING 4 U!!!!!! <3 <3 <3  
> am i going to cry? yes. am i going to cry and ruin all my makeup? definitely. will i regret anything? no.
> 
> hope you enjoyed this chapter!!  
> comments + kudos are always appreciated :))  
> (not edited so if there are any mistakes pls let me know ty!!)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m sorry but I regret nothing,” Seongwoo declared. “And I also won’t promise anything because that would make me a liar, and I am many things, but I try not to be a liar.”
> 
> “Thank you, Seongwoo. You’re an exemplary sunbae who sets such good examples for his hoobaes,” Minhyun said dryly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **takes place the morning after the last chapter!!

Woojin jerked awake due to someone screaming in his ear. His eyes flew open and he sat up in panic, looking around wildly. “What? What happened? What’s going on?”

“Why are you in my bed?!” Jihoon was screeching. Woojin squeezed his eyes as the hangover hit his head like an 8-ton truck.

“Holy shit, please stop screaming. I think my head is going to burst open. Holy shit.”

Jihoon just screeched again in response, shoved Woojin off the bed, and grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around himself. Woojin barely had time to respond to this abuse before Jihoon was hitting him with his pillow. “Answer me, you nerd. Why did you take advantage of me while I was drunk, huh? Does this friendship mean nothing to you?!”

“Ow, ow, OW!” Woojin shouted out in pain and grabbed Jihoon’s wrist to prevent the latter from hitting him. He pulled hard and Jihoon squeaked when he was pulled off the bed and onto the floor, landing on top of Woojin, who grunted in surprise. “Stop hitting me! I don’t know what happened either, okay? In case you’re forgetting I was drunk too.”

Woojin scowled at Jihoon, who was hovering on top of him with a frown. “So what happened?”

“I don’t know,” Woojin laid back down on the floor and ran a hand through his already messy hair. “I think we just fell asleep together? Probably. I know we were drunk but we’re not _that_ stupid.”

“Speak for yourself,” Jihoon pouted and got up. He offered Woojin a hand and dragged the boy up from the floor. “What time is it?”

Woojin glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s 12:30. You wanna shower first or should I?”

“Me first. I feel gross.” Jihoon made a face and glanced down and saw that he was wearing the same clothes from last night. “Did we even brush our teeth? God, I hope drunk-me was sensible enough to brush my teeth before we went to sleep.”

“I vaguely remember having to help you with brushing your teeth,” Woojin made a face. “I think you kept trying to swallow the toothpaste. Do you really have to eat everything? Jesus.”

“Sounds like me, honestly,” Jihoon sighed as he took out clothes to change into after the shower. “I’m gonna go shower now. Brb.”

“Did you really just say ‘brb’ out loud,” Woojin muttered under his breath. “What do you want to eat?”

“The souls of my enemies.”

“Yeah, uh, we’re eating ramen.”

***

After the two of them finished showering and deemed themselves somewhat presentable, they went down to the convenience store that was on the first floor of their dorm building to get cup ramen.

“I wanted real ramen,” Jihoon pouted as they waited for their cup ramen to finish cooking. They were back inside their room, as they both agreed that neither of them wanted to eat at the store in fear of running into people they knew and being socially obligated to make small talk.

“We’re broke, and you have work in like an hour,” Woojin gave him a look. “I don’t think we have the means of getting you real ramen right now.”

“Oh, man. I forgot I had work today,” Jihoon groaned as Woojin opened the lid of his ramen slightly to see if it was done cooking. “Fuck, I’m so hungover right now? Why did we do this.”

“This was your idea, in case you forgot,” Woojin said flatly. “You’re the one who wanted to drink beer while eating chicken.”

“Well the soju was _your_ idea,” Jihoon pouted. “… Right?”

“No, that was your idea too.”

“Well, fuck. I’m an alcoholic, aren’t I.”

Woojin laughed. “Are you just now realizing this?”

Jihoon made a face at Woojin who just smirked. “Stop smirking and eat your ramen.”

The duo began to eat their ramen in silence, both of them thinking about what had happened last night. Jihoon couldn’t remember anything past finishing the soju bottle while Woojin had hazy recollections of making it back to their dorm and somehow being sober enough to remember to brush his teeth. After that, however, his memory blanked out and he wondered just how Jihoon had managed to convince him into sharing a bed together.

Woojin wasn’t sure how he knew but he was sure that it was Jihoon’s fault the two of them ended up sleeping together. He knew his drunk habits – wanting to sleep with another person, whether it was just to sleep or doing other things, wasn’t one of his habits. He usually just got a _lot_ louder and more outgoing.

Jihoon, on the other hand, turned into a skinship monster when he was drunk. He always wanted to be touching another person in one way or another. He was usually satisfied with just holding hands or hugging, but sometimes he was more clingy and wanted other things.

Like making Woojin sleep with him.

“Let’s never speak of this again,” Jihoon said as he set down his empty bowl. “This is embarrassing.”

“I like to think I’m a pretty good cuddler,” Woojin teased him a little before picking up both of their bowls and throwing it in the trash. “But yeah, let’s never speak of this again. _Especially_ not to Daehwi.”

The two of them paused before shuddering. Daehwi would, quite literally, flip his shit if he found out that, a) the two of them had gotten piss drunk at Hangang _without_ him, and b) fallen asleep together on Jihoon’s bed.

“Sounds good to me.” Jihoon stretched and sighed in content when he felt his joints pop. “Okay, time to go to work.”

Woojin watched silently from his bed while Jihoon went around the room gathering his stuff. “What time do you end today?”

“We close at nine today,” Jihoon said. “I’ll probably go to your café afterwards to do some work. Do you want me to bring you anything?”

“Nah, I’ll probably just eat some leftover sandwiches,” Woojin shrugged. “I’ll text you if I decide I want something else, though.”

“Okay,” Jihoon nodded. “I’m off now. See you later!”

Woojin waved goodbye as Jihoon left, shutting the door lightly behind him. Woojin smirked at this. Jihoon hated letting doors close loudly because it always made him jump, even if he was the one who closed it. He quickly sobered up though as various thoughts began to plague his mind.

He wondered if this counted as cheating because: a) he technically _wasn’t_ dating Hyungseob, and b) it’s Jihoon and the thought of that was gross enough.

Woojin sighed as he got up to get ready as well. He thought about what he was doing. Did he like Hyungseob? Definitely. But was it a platonic-like where he just appreciated Hyungseob’s general existence as a friend, or was it a potentially romantic-like where he could see himself starting to really date Hyungseob? Woojin had no idea, but he knew he wasn’t being fair to Hyungseob.

“I need to get my life together,” Woojin sighed to himself. He glanced at the clock and cursed when he realized it was almost time for his shift. He grabbed his phone and wallet and bolted out of the dorm. His boss was going to kill him if he was late. Again.

***

Upon entering the Café Atlantis, Woojin realized with a dread that he would be working with Ong Seongwoo, one of the loudest, if not _the_ loudest, hyungs he knew. He cursed to himself quietly as he made his way to the staff room in the back, and was met with quite a sight.

“Sup,” Seongwoo croaked and gave Woojin a nod. “How’s your day going?”

“Better than yours, apparently,” Woojin raised an eyebrow at the sight of Seongwoo. His usually pristine uniform was wrinkly, and he was wearing black sunglasses despite them being indoors. “Uh, had a rough night last night?”

“Fuck Kim Jaehwan,” Seongwoo cursed. “He dared me to chug Bacardi straight from the bottle and I thought I was going to die.”

“You know, contrary to popular belief, Jaehwan hyung _can’t_ really make you do anything,” Woojin gave Seongwoo a look. “You and I both know he’s harmless. If anything, hyung, I’m pretty sure you chose to do that yourself.”

“Guilty as charged,” Seongwoo sighed. “Won’t stop me from blaming Jaehwan, though, that little shit.”

“I figured. Boa noonim is going to kill us both,” Woojin sighed. “I want to die.”

“Did you drink last night too?” Seongwoo was smirking lightly. “Naughty boy, getting drunk when you have work the next day? I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one.”

“Blame Park Jihoon,” Woojin muttered darkly. Seongwoo laughed out loud and immediately winced.

“Okay, ow, not good for the headache. You got drunk with Jihoon?”

“Yeah,” Woojin sighed. “We went to Hangang and had chimaek, then we decided it would be smart to share a bottle of soju before going back home.”

Seongwoo shook his head. “That boy. I don’t remember drinking as much as he does when _I_ was a freshman.”

“Hyung, you probably drank more,” Woojin snickered. The two of them left the staffroom when Jaehwan, who was clearly also hungover, came to the back to inform them that it was time for their shift. “I’m pretty sure you _still_ drink more than he does.”

“Touché, Woojin. Touché.”

Woojin and Seongwoo wondered silently how they were going to survive that day’s shift. The Sunday shift at the café was arguably the busiest shift of the week, and the only reason Woojin had decided to take that shift was because he needed the money. And the hours. But mostly the money. Sundays were worth it in the sense that they got the most tip, but working while being hungover always made Woojin question if this job was worth the pay.

(It was, but not to hungover Woojin.)

A few hours into their shift, Minhyun, who had stayed back to finish up some homework, eyed the two of them as they trudged around. A couple of their regulars had asked if they were okay, to which one of them would respond with, “We want to die.”

“I told you two not to take this shift if you want to drink Saturday nights,” Minhyun scolded. “Especially you, Ong Seongwoo. You show up hungover more often than not. And Woojin, I thought you were the responsible one. How can you show up hungover too?”

“Sorry, Minhyun hyung.” Woojin felt like a child who was getting scolded by their mother. “I won’t do it again. Probably. Hopefully.” He scrunched up his face in thought. “You should lecture Jihoon, though. He’s the one who convinced me to drink with him last night.”

“Don’t give into peer pressure,” was Minhyun’s response.

“I’m sorry but I regret nothing,” Seongwoo declared. “And I also won’t promise anything because that would make me a liar, and I am many things, but I try not to be a liar.”

“Thank you, Seongwoo. You’re an exemplary sunbae who sets such good examples for his hoobaes,” Minhyun said dryly.

“Seongwoo hyung is a messy bitch,” Woojin piped up. “Jaehwan hyung’s words, not mine. Ow, don’t hit me, hyung! Jaehwan hyung is the one who goes around telling people that!”

“You brat,” Seongwoo said fondly. “Don’t listen to Jaehwan.”

“Normally I’d try to defend Jaehwan, but Seongwoo is right. Don’t listen to Jaehwan,” Minhyun sighed.

Seongwoo beamed and Woojin laughed at the exasperated look Minhyun had.

***

“Oh, Jihoon, you’re here!” Kenta, who worked the shift before Jihoon’s, greeted from behind the counter. “How was your day?”

“To be honest, I woke up like maybe two hours ago,” Jihoon scrunched up his face. “How was work, hyung?” Jihoon hopped over the counter to join Kenta, and laughed at the scandalized expression the elder gave him.

“Don’t do that! Our boss is going to kill you,” Kenta chided. “My shift was pretty good, but slow. I got a lot of work done though, so.”

“Is boss man here?” Jihoon asked. “I don’t think I’ve seen him in like the past three weeks.”

“Boss man is indeed here, and he saw all of that. Park Jihoon, how many times have I told you _not_ to jump over the counter like that?” Their boss and owner of the bookstore, Lee Seokhoon, came out of the staff room. Jihoon smiled sheepishly and offered his apologies, which his boss smirked at.

“Are you leaving?” Jihoon asked.

“Yeah, my wife asked me to run some errands for her. Are you okay with closing by yourself tonight?”

“I mean, I close by myself every shift I work, so yes,” Jihoon shrugged. “Sir.” He added as an afterthought.

Seokhoon flicked Jihoon’s forehead teasingly. “Don’t act so respectful all of a sudden, you brat. It’s giving me goosebumps. Kenta, here’s your pay for the week. Good job. Now go on your merry way and let’s leave Jihoon all alone.”

Kenta accepted the envelop with a laugh and thanked Seokhoon. Jihoon pouted as Kenta packed up his belongings. “Hyung, are you really leaving me here? All alone? I’m cute and defenseless and vulnerable!”

“Jihoon, if there’s anything you’re _not_ , it’s being defenseless and vulnerable,” Seokhoon said flatly. “Don’t think I didn’t see you judo flip that friend of yours the other week. You know, the one who always picks you up on Saturdays and sits with you behind the counter even though it’s supposed to be _employees only_?”

Jihoon turned bright red while Kenta burst out into loud laughter. “Aw, Jihoonie, does Woojin pick you up after your shift on Saturdays?”

“Maybe,” Jihoon pouted. “I don’t appreciate the teasing. I demand a raise,” he joked.

“Rejected,” Seokhoon joked right back and glanced at his watch. “Alright, kids. I really have to get going now. Jihoon, I left your pay for the week in my office, just go ahead and grab it, okay? Remember that I have cameras everywhere.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Jihoon saluted. “Bye, Kenta hyung. Bye, boss man!”

“Bye.” Seokhoon and Kenta both waved goodbye as they left the shop before going their separate ways. Jihoon sighed and looked up at the clock with a small pout. It was just barely 3:30, meaning he still had five and a half hours left before he was done with work and could go home and go to fuck to sleep.

More importantly, that meant he had five and a half hours to regret his entire life, seeing how the bookstore was usually void of customers on Sunday nights, save for a few literature students searching for books or coming into study and mooch off of their free wi-fi and limited (but cheap) coffee selections.

Not that Jihoon minded. It usually gave Jihoon a chance to catch up on any schoolwork he had or study ahead so he would have more time to finish his art pieces.

As his shift went on, Jihoon couldn’t help but wonder if it was wrong of him to be happy at the fact that Woojin hadn’t gone out with Hyungseob last night. Saturday nights were reserved for Jihoon and Woojin, and Jihoon had been disappointed when Woojin told him that he and Hyungseob had made plans to go watch a movie Hyungseob had been wanting to watch the past few weeks.

He hadn’t told Woojin, of course. How could he? He was the one who set them up, after all. What kind of friend would he be if he prevented Woojin from going on the date with the friend Jihoon had introduced him to?

His train of thought led Jihoon to wonder if their Saturday night traditions would come to an end if Woojin started dating Hyungseob officially. Or anyone, really. Woojin was popular – he just didn’t put himself out there as much as he could’ve.

Not that Jihoon blamed him. College was scary, and staying in your comfort zone was sometimes more, well, comfortable.

The thought of their late-night dinners and drama marathons coming to an end made Jihoon sad, which surprised him. Sure, he probably wouldn’t see Woojin as much if he _did_ start dating, but that didn’t mean they would stop being friends. He roomed with the guy, for crying out loud.

“When did I start being so clingy?” Jihoon mumbled to himself as he tidied up the already-neat counter. Woojin would have a heart attack at the sight of Jihoon cleaning something _willingly_. The image was enough for Jihoon’s lips to curl up slightly into a small smile.

As he continued to clean, Jihoon wondered if he should try going on a blind date. One of his friends from his elementary Chinese class, Haknyeon, always asked him if he was interested and had tried to set him up with some kids from the dance department, but Jihoon had always turned him down in favor of concentrating on his classes. He was still trying to get used to the crippling workload he had, after all. Dating could come after.

He also couldn’t see himself dating anyone from the dance department. That hit a little too close to the home Jihoon found in Woojin.

“That makes no sense,” Jihoon whispered. “What am I even saying?”

Jihoon sighed and plopped down on his stool before reaching down to take his schoolwork out of the bag he had brought. He had an essay to finish for his History of Design class. His problems could come later.

However, even while finishing up and editing his essay, Jihoon couldn’t stop thinking about waking up in Woojin’s arms that morning, and how nice and warm it had felt to have Woojin’s arms wrapped around him and vice versa.

He also couldn’t stop feeling guilty for feeling this way, seeing how he had been the one to introduce Hyungseob to Woojin in the first place.

When the last customer left at 8:45, Jihoon sighed and began to pack away his belongings. Surely his boss wouldn’t mind if he started closing a little early that night. Jihoon seriously doubted anyone would come rushing into the shop to buy one last book before closing. While he cleaned up the few tables they had and threw out any trash he saw, Jihoon couldn’t help but wonder if he was a bad friend for wanting Woojin to himself more and more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes:  
> -i have never experienced a hangover In My Life so plz excuse my lack of description for our favorite idiots being hungover thank u LOL  
> -icb 2park got both the "we fell asleep together drunk" AND the "i pulled ur arm and u fell on top of me" tropes smh  
> -2park's dorm building has a small convenience store on the bottom floor!! daehwi and jinyoung's dorm (who are in a different dorm building) has a dining hall (both are accessible to all students)  
> -the cafe woojin works at is called "Cafe Atlantis" and the owner is Boa :')))  
> -i worked at a cafe irl and let me tell u that saturday and sunday shifts were THE worst even tho u got the most tips on top of ur wage LOL im sry woojin  
> -sunbae is "senior" and hoobae is "junior"  
> -kenta works at the bookstore too!  
> -jihoon's boss is lee seokhoon and the bookstore's name is "Confessions" (which is one of his songs)  
> -seokhoon is really lax with his workers and he tells them to treat him like a hyung (but respectfully) instead of an old man LOL  
> -(same with boa; if her workers call her anything other than some variation of "noona" or "boss lady" she'll have their heads)  
> -jihoon;;; my son;;;;;;;;;;;;;
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this chapter!! if you have any questions feel free to shoot me a message/mention on my [twitter ](https://twitter.com/pinkeuchamsae) ^^ im really bad at responding but i will try my best;;;;  
> comments + kudos are always appreciated!! <3


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyungseob’s expression turned into one of worry. “His birthday is in three weeks and I have no idea what to get him? He invited me to his party and that’s in even less than three weeks. Woojin, what do I get him?”
> 
> “Um.” Was Woojin’s intelligent response. “You don’t really have to get him anything, to be honest? Pretty sure he’s not expecting anything from anyone. If you show up and take a shot with him at the party he’ll consider that a present.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **takes place 3 weeks before jihoon's birthday!! :)  
> thank you for 203 kudos!! <3

from: **seobseobie**

hey

are you free right now???

to: **seobseobie**

hyungseob its 8:30 in the morning

the only reason im up rn is bc park fucking jihoon slept through all six of his alarms

again

from: **seobseobie**

lolol

i knew you would be free since you have NO MORNING CLASSES

EXCEPT FOR LAB

how did you even manage that i still don’t get it

to: **seobseobie**

talent

from: **seobseobie**

(¬▂¬)

whatever

do you wanna grab breakfast w me then?

i want pancakes but euiwoong has class :c

to: **seobseobie**

sure

from where?

from: **seobseobie**

east campus dining hall!!! they always have pancakes on monday mornings hehe

to: **seobseobie**

do u have menu schedules memorized for every dining hall

from: **seobseobie**

maybe? :3

to: **seobseobie**

…

not surprised

ok ill be there in like maybe 15min?

from: **seobseobie**

okay!! (≧◡≦)

***

“Do you not have any morning classes today?” Woojin asked as he sipped on his coffee before making a face. After some pestering from Jihoon, Woojin had finally decided to try the caramel macchiato from Café Atlantis. While Jihoon preferred sweeter drinks like caramel macchiatos and chocolate bubble tea, Woojin preferred his coffee black (“Like your soul,” Jihoon would hiss).

“I do, actually. I’m supposed to be in calculus right now,” Hyungseob answered while stuffing his face with more pancakes, and Woojin was momentarily stunned at how much the other boy resembled a chipmunk.

“Wait, what?” Woojin blinked when his brain finally processed Hyungseob’s response. “What are you doing here getting breakfast with me then?”

“Professor sent us an email cancelling the class this morning,” Hyungseob shrugged. “Something about not having a ride to school? Hyunmin and I are pretty sure he’s just hungover.”

“Probably,” Woojin chuckled. “How are your pancakes?”

“I think I could eat pancakes for the rest of my life and die happy,” Hyungseob sighed in happiness.

“You say that about everything you eat,” Woojin pointed out.

Hyungseob pouted. “Don’t expose me like this. Anyways, the real reason I asked you to get breakfast with me isn’t because of the pancakes, actually. Well, somewhat because of the pancakes, but there’s another reason too. A really important one.”

“Wow, so it wasn’t because you wanted to enjoy your pancakes and start of your week with my amazing and incredible company?” Woojin teased. “You wound me, Ahn Hyungseob.”

“Shut up, you’re ridiculous,” Hyungseob laughed. “I actually had a question.”

“One you couldn’t ask me over text or, I don’t know, call me for?” Woojin raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

Hyungseob’s face turned serious and Woojin’s brain short-circuited. Was he missing something?

“Have you gotten Jihoon’s birthday present yet?”

Okay. Woojin wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but it hadn’t been that. He could work with this.

“Um, what?”

Or not.

Hyungseob’s expression turned into one of worry. “His birthday is in three weeks and I have no idea what to get him? He invited me to his party and that’s in even less than three weeks. Woojin, what do I get him?”

“Um.” Was Woojin’s intelligent response. “You don’t really have to get him anything, to be honest? Pretty sure he’s not expecting anything from anyone. If you show up and take a shot with him at the party he’ll consider that a present.”

“That’s not how birthdays work,” Hyungseob scolded Woojin, who put his hands up in surrender. “You’re supposed to be his best friend. Have you gotten his present yet?”

“I have three weeks,” Woojin deadpanned.

“So no?”

“Of course not. Do I look like someone who plans for things like this?” Woojin made a face. “I’m probably just going to take him out to eat or something like I do every year. With some alcohol this time, I guess, since we’re actual adults now.”

Hyungseob pouted. “I don’t know what to get him. Help me?”

Woojin sighed. So this breakfast had an ulterior motive. He should’ve expected this, to be honest. Hyungseob _was_ friends with Jihoon, after all, and everyone and their grandparents knew Jihoon was full of ulterior motives and evil schemes behind his innocent, angelic appearance. “Sure, I guess. Do you want to meet up on Saturday? We can get breakfast and walk around that shopping plaza near the school.”

Hyungseob beamed. “You’re the best.”

“I know,” Woojin rolled his eyes jokingly. “You’re buying breakfast, though.”

“Deal!”

***

“Hey.” Woojin nudged Jihoon slightly. “I’m going out for breakfast with Hyungseob.”

Jihoon stirred but didn’t wake, causing Woojin frowned. The last time he left without telling Jihoon, the latter had freaked out and called all their friends telling them that Woojin had been kidnapped only for Daehwi to send a blurry picture of him and Hyungseob at a café. How Daehwi had known Woojin would be there with Hyungseob, he had no idea. But one doesn’t simply question Lee Daehwi.

Woojin nudged Jihoon again, a little harder this time, and was rewarded with Jihoon peeking his head out from under his blankets with a fierce glare. “Oh, good, you’re up. I’m going out for breakfast with Hyungseob so don’t flip your shit this time, okay?”

“Park Woojin,” Jihoon growled. “If you touch me _one more time_ and attempt to wake me up at ass o’clock in the morning on a _fucking Saturday_ , I will _murder_ you.”

Woojin smirked and leaned down to ruffle Jihoon’s hair, pulling his hand back before the elder could bite him. “Alright, alright. Make sure to wake up on time for work. Don’t sleep through your alarms again, okay?”

“ _Leave_ ,” Jihoon hissed. Woojin let out a short laugh before grabbing his stuff and leaving the demon to sleep.

He met up with Hyungseob in front of the gates of their school, and the two of them left to grab a quick breakfast before going on the hunt for Jihoon’s birthday present.

“Craving anything?” Hyungseob asked as they scanned the street for affordable breakfast food.

“Not really. Do you just want to grab a breakfast sandwich to-go? We can eat while looking around,” Woojin said. “I have to get to practice a little earlier today. Taehyun hyung wants to talk to us about changing some of the choreography for our competition.”

“Sounds good to me,” Hyungseob nodded. “I know a café in the plaza that sells pretty good breakfast sandwiches. Wanna go there?”

“Sure. Lead the way,” Woojin gestured dramatically. Hyungseob laughed and played along, bowing deeply and thanking Woojin for his manners.

They wandered around the streets aimlessly while eating their sandwiches. Hyungseob had just finished telling Woojin a story about how furious Euiwoong had been when Hyungseob had accidentally locked the two of them out of their dorm for the fourth time that week. Woojin had responded with a story of his own and told Hyungseob of how Jihoon had managed to convince Jisung, the oldest in their little group, to let loose for the night, which led to Jihoon and Jaehwan conspiring to finally see the eldest get drunk.

“Jisung hyung doesn’t really drink these days because he’s so busy with grad school,” Woojin explained, “so he’s a total lightweight. Jaehwan hyung gave him maybe three shots before he was gone, and Seongwoo hyung somehow convinced him that all eleven of us were on an idol survival program and debuted together as a project group, and that this was all an alternate reality his brain conjured up to deal with the stress of being an idol.”

“Oh, my God,” Hyungseob was wheezing from laughter at this point. “My stomach hurts so much, oh my God. How did he react to that?”

“I think his brain exploded,” Woojin laughed. “Seongwoo hyung kept telling him about how nothing was real and that he would wake up from all this any second until Minhyun hyung finally took pity on Jisung hyung and made him go to sleep.”

Hyungseob shook his head while chuckling. “You guys are so messy. Especially Seongwoo hyung.”

“Honestly, you’re not wrong,” Woojin shrugged. “I think Jaehwan hyung has Seongwoo hyung saved as ‘Messy Bitch’ on his phone.”

Hyungseob laughed out loud at this. “Was Jisung hyung okay the morning after?”

“He almost killed Seongwoo hyung and Jaehwan hyung for getting him that drunk,” Woojin snickered. “The only reason Jihoon managed to get away with it is probably because Jisung hyung thinks Jihoon is the sweetest thing to walk on this Earth, after Guan Lin. That demon literally puppy-dog faced his way out of Jisung hyung’s wrath.”

“Typical Jihoon,” Hyungseob giggled.

As the two of them continued to exchange stories about the mess that were their friends, the pair somehow ended up in a store that sold kitchenware.

“How did we end up here?” Woojin raised an eyebrow as they walked around the store, eyeing the fancy silverware and coffee machines. “I one-hundred percent can’t afford anything in this store.”

“I have no idea,” Hyungseob blinked. “Wanna look around anyways?”

Woojin shrugged. “Sure.”

They continued to talk while looking around the store, stopping every now and then to discuss if a 300,000 won coffee machine was really a necessity to humanity, or if it was just a ploy from the government to fuel their capitalistic society.

Just when they decided that there was no point in looking around the store anymore, since they both agreed that Jihoon definitely would be more interested and grateful if Hyungseob brought him a bottle of wine as opposed to a fancy dish set, something caught Woojin’s eye, and he dragged Hyungseob over to look at it.

“Get him this,” Woojin nodded. “Jihoon will love it.”

Hyungseob blinked before giving Woojin a look. “Woojin. This is a takoyaki machine.”

“I know. Jihoon’s going to flip his shit. In a good way. He loves takoyaki.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being serious or if you’re teasing me,” Hyungseob whispered as he stared at the takoyaki machine in front of him.

“I’m dead serious,” Woojin said as he grabbed one from the shelf. “I wouldn’t tease you about something like this. Other things, but not this, don’t worry.”

Hyungseob took the machine from Woojin and stared at it skeptically. “Are you sure…? Is this practical?”

Woojin shrugged. “Who knows if it’s practical or not? I can guarantee you that Jihoon will love it, though.”

Hyungseob sighed in resignation. “Okay. You’re the best friend, so I guess I should listen to you.”

“Good choice.”

“Don’t make me regret it.”

***

After paying for Jihoon’s new takoyaki machine, Woojin walked Hyungseob back to his dorm before leaving for dance practice. Hyungseob waved goodbye and waited for Woojin to disappear around the corner before entering the building and walking up to his room.

When he finally managed to get the door open without dropping anything (an accomplishment, if he said so himself), Hyungseob greeted Euiwoong with a nod before setting his stuff and takoyaki machine down on his bed.

“Um,” Euiwoong said, not knowing where to start. “Hi?”

“Hey, how was your day?” Hyungseob asked while rummaging his drawers. “Have you seen my wrapping paper? The pink one with white polka dots.”

“It’s under your bed,” Euiwoong responded distractedly. “My day was, um, good.”

“That’s good,” Hyungseob said idly.

“Yeah,” Euiwoong blinked. “So, um. Whatcha got there?”

Hyungseob stared at him blankly before realizing what Euiwoong was talking about. “A takoyaki machine.” Hyungseob said this as if it explained everything and looked oddly proud of himself. Euiwoong was confused.

“Well, I see that,” Euiwoong said slowly. “But I was kind of hoping you would, you know, give me an explanation on _why_ you decided to buy a takoyaki machine.”

“Oh, it’s not mine,” Hyungseob waved his hand dismissively. “It’s for Jihoon. His birthday’s coming up.”

“…Right,” Euiwoong nodded after a pause. “You know what? I’m not going to question it. I hope Jihoon enjoys his… takoyaki machine.”

Hyungseob beamed. “I hope so too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes:  
> -jihoon has 9am classes every day (lol poor kid) but he usually sleeps through his alarms which wake woojin up instead, who's forced to wake the sleeping demon up so that he gets to his classes on time LOL  
> -woojin has no morning classes except on wednesdays when he has chem lab at 8 in the morning (which is death, i speak from experience. dont do it.)  
> -woojin is a lying liar who lies (u will find out why soon) (brownie point if u can guess why)  
> -jihoon has a tendency to get lost or get so focused he completely ignores everything around him (like the art studio incident) so him and woojin have an agreement to let the other know if they're going out (which is why jihoon always knows when jinseob have a date planned) so the one time woojin didnt let jihoon know the latter freaked the fuck out lmao  
> -300,000 won is approx. $279  
> -euiwoong is so #done with hyungseobs shenanigans (but is he rly done? who knows)
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this chapter!!  
> comments + kudos are always appreciated ^^


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Jihoon,” Seongwoo dragged Jihoon up to stand next to him. “I am your present.”
> 
> “Does it come with a gift receipt?” Jihoon snickered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for 228 kudos!!
> 
> **takes place the Saturday before Jihoon's birthday!  
> lots of drunk shenanigans ahead

The party was in full swing by the time Woojin and Hyungseob arrived. The two blinked at the sight of Jaehwan screaming his head off as he battled Sungwoon on Guitar Hero.

“Are we that late?” Hyungseob asked in a whisper, looking up at Woojin with wide eyes.

“No, you guys aren’t that late,” Jisung pushed past Seongwoo and Daniel to greet the pair. “Jaehwan’s always like that. Nice to meet you! I’m Jisung.”

Hyungseob took the hand Jisung offered and beamed. “I’m Hyungseob! I’m Jihoon’s lab partner and only friend in chemistry.”

“I resent that.” Jihoon stumbled over, his speech already starting to slur. “Hyungseobie, you’re late! I was waiting for you.” Hyungseob giggled when Jihoon plastered himself to the former’s side and dragged him off to where the alcohol was. “You have to take a shot with me, it’s my birthday!”

“Love you too, Jihoon.” Woojin rolled his eyes when his best friend ignored him in lieu of Hyungseob and gave Jisung an exasperated look. “Is he drunk already?”

“Tipsy, I think,” Jisung gave Jihoon a slightly disapproving look. “Jaehwan and Seongwoo got to him. Made him take four shots back to back as soon as he got here.”

“Typical,” Woojin clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Have they even thanked you or Sungwoon hyung for hosting the party here?”

“Jihoon tried,” Jisung chuckled and threw an arm around Woojin’s shoulders and led him towards the living room, where Jinyoung was trying to convince Guan Lin to team up with him against Daehwi and Jaehwan. “Jaehwan and Seongwoo dragged him away before he could finish, though.”

“Woojin hyung!” Jinyoung looked up at him with a bright smile. “You’re here! Good! Guan Lin won’t play on my team.” He thrust the controller towards Woojin. “You’re on my team!”

“Woojin, you’re here!” Seongwoo stumbled against Woojin, who caught him by the waist before he could fall. “Has anyone gotten you anything to drink yet? No? Okay, wait here. Hyung will get you something good to drink.”

Seongwoo stumbled away before Woojin could say anything and he stared with Jisung and Jinyoung as Seongwoo tripped over a chair and ran into a wall.

“Anyways,” Jinyoung turned back with a blank expression and ignored Seongwoo’s pathetic cries for help. “You’re on my team.”

“Do I even get a say in this?” Woojin raised an eyebrow but accepted the controller nonetheless. “What are we even playing?”

“Super smash,” Daehwi chirped happily from the bean bag he was occupying. Woojin’s face fell and he whipped his head towards a smug Jinyoung.

“You suck at this game! No wonder Linnie doesn’t want to be on your team! And Jaehwan hyung shouldn’t be allowed to play, he’s too good!” Woojin accused and Jinyoung stumbled back in fake hurt while Jaehwan cackled maniacally.

“You wound me, hyung. I’ve improved, I swear!” Jinyoung pouted, his hands clasped against his chest where his heart was.

Woojin sighed but sat down to play. Jinyoung gave a cheer and they started the game. Despite clearly being inebriated, Jaehwan still managed to kick their asses – Daehwi’s included.

“Hyung!” Daehwi groaned as his character was kicked off the map for the fifth time by Jaehwan. “We’re on the same team!”

“It’s every man for himself,” Jaehwan cackled as he went after a screeching Jinyoung next.

“Someone take his drinks away,” Daehwi mumbled unhappily but quickly focused when his character respawned.

“Don’t worry, I’m on it.” Minhyun swooped in and took Jaehwan’s cup away, to which the latter protested loudly. He dropped his controller to go after Minhyun, who walked away while sipping on Jaehwan’s drink.

“Jaehwan hyung!” Daehwi screeched while Woojin and Jinyoung laughed loudly and kicked Jaehwan’s abandoned character off easily.

“Nice!” The two of them cheered and high-fived while Daehwi sulked until Jihoon jumped in and picked up Jaehwan’s controller.

“What did he choose? Mario?” Jihoon grinned boyishly as he began to attack Woojin. “Park Woojin, you’re going down.”

“Fuck,” Woojin swore when Jihoon attacked his character nonstop. “You weren’t even playing! This is cheating!”

Hyungseob took a seat next to Woojin with a laugh and watched as Jihoon and Daehwi ganged up against Woojin together. Woojin sighed when he and Jinyoung lost and offered the controller to Hyungseob, who shook his head.

“Here’s your drink,” Seongwoo sang. He clumsily handed Woojin a red solo cup filled with what looked like beer before walking away to jump onto Daniel, who had been leaning against the kitchen table and talking with Jisung.

“I wouldn’t trust Seongwoo hyung’s drinks if I were you,” Jihoon slurred. “Him and Jaehwan hyung made me take four shots before handing me something I thought was beer.”

“Did it look like this?” Woojin raised an eyebrow and tilted the cup forward slightly to show Jihoon, who nodded with a serious expression. “Was it not beer?”

“It was not beer,” Jihoon whispered, eyes wide as if Seongwoo had either taught him the secrets to the universe or wronged his entire life. “It was most definitely not beer.”

Woojin scrunched up his nose and peered down at the cup before sniffing it. Yeah, definitely not beer. He wasn’t sure if he was looking to getting shitfaced tonight, but he definitely wasn’t trying to stay completely sober. He took an experimental sip before recoiling backwards.

“Fuck, what is this?”

“It’s my special mix,” Seongwoo crooned from where he was perched on top of Daniel’s lap. “Enjoy!”

“Can I try?” Hyungseob asked curiously. Woojin shuddered but offered Hyungseob the cup, who made a disgusted face as soon as he took a sip. “Yuck. What is this?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t want it,” Woojin grumbled and stood up. “I’m going to get something else, I’ll be right back.”

The night went on with the twelve of them playing games, talking, drinking, and being loud in general. Woojin had lost track of Hyungseob sometime after the fifth round of Guitar Hero, as the latter had hit it off with Jisung and Minhyun and had spent majority of the night chatting with the two hyungs.

“Alright,” Seongwoo clapped loudly, stumbling a little when he stood up. Daniel was by his side, supporting Seongwoo’s weight by holding him by the waist. “Present time! Everyone bring out whatever you got for our Park Demon! I’m first though.”

“Park Demon?” Hyungseob whispered to Minhyun questioningly.

“That’s what Jaehwan and Seongwoo call Jihoon,” Minhyun shook his head and chuckled fondly.

“Jihoon,” Seongwoo dragged Jihoon up to stand next to him. “I am your present.”

“Does it come with a gift receipt?” Jihoon snickered. Seongwoo gasped and clutched his chest.

“Critical hit!” Seongwoo cried while everyone else laughed. “You brat. Is this how you treat your favorite hyung?”

Jihoon shook his head with a laugh. “Favorite hyung, yeah sure.”

“You brat,” Seongwoo hit Jihoon’s shoulder lightly. “Here’s your real present though. It’s from both me and Daniel.” Seongwoo handed Jihoon a long box, which Jihoon raised an eyebrow at. He had a feeling he knew what it was.

Jihoon opened the box and laughed at the wine bottle inside. “Hyung, this is my favorite! Thank you!” He set the box down carefully on the couch and gave Seongwoo and Daniel a big hug, which they returned. Seongwoo even gave Jihoon a wet kiss on the cheek before shoving him towards Jaehwan, who was waiting with open arms.

“My turn!” Jaehwan sang as he caught Jihoon and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. The two of them giggled loudly and rubbed their cheeks together, which Minhyun cooed at and Jisung took pictures of. “Here you go.”

Jaehwan handed Jihoon his present. “Open it! Quick, quick!”

“I’m trying! You used too much tape,” Jihoon whined, swaying slightly as he tried to open the box. He and Jaehwan cheered when he finally managed to get the wrapping paper off. Jihoon squealed when he saw that it was watercolor paint set and threw his arms around Jaehwan, who stumbled backwards with a grunt.

“Thank you Jaehwan hyung!” Jihoon grinned. Jaehwan laughed and gave Jihoon a wet kiss on the cheek like Seongwoo had.

“You’re welcome, brat. Now off you go.” Jaehwan shoved Jihoon towards Sungwoon who laughed as he caught Jihoon.

Woojin chuckled as he watched Jihoon get pushed around the room. Hyungseob sidled up next to him and peered up at him. “What’s so funny?”

“Jihoon stumbling around.” Woojin snorted when Jihoon lost his balance and fell on top of an unsuspecting Guan Lin, and the two of them went down with an “oomph!”

“What did you get him?” Hyungseob asked. He noticed that Woojin wasn’t holding anything.

“I’m taking him out for dinner and drinks,” Woojin sighed and shook his head. “He said he wants steak. Does it look like I have the money to buy him steak _and_ drinks?

“No,” Hyungseob chortled before straightening up with shock when Jihoon was shoved towards him next. “Whoa!”

Woojin flinched but caught Jihoon before he could crash into Hyungseob. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Jihoon blinked rapidly, trying to regain his bearings. “Are you okay, Hyungseobie?”

“I’m fine,” Hyungseob chuckled and held out his present. “Here’s your present, Jihoonie.”

“Noooo,” Jihoon groaned. “You weren’t supposed to get me anything! Woojin, why didn’t you stop him?”

“Why didn’t he say that to the rest of us?” Jaehwan complained jokingly. Minhyun chuckled as he helped his boyfriend sit down on the couch.

“I wanted to get you something,” Hyungseob pouted. “Open it!”

Jihoon obliged and carefully ripped the wrapping paper and revealed the takoyaki machine that was inside. “Oh, my God. Is this a takoyaki machine?” Jihoon squealed. “Thank you so much!”

Jihoon shoved the takoyaki into Woojin, who took it with a grunt, and jumped on Hyungseob. The two of them jumped up and down, squealing, which Woojin rolled his eyes at. So Hyungseob was a bubbly drunk too, nice to know.

“When will he ever use a takoyaki machine, though?” Daniel wondered aloud. He was ignored, however.

“Jihoon hyung is so drunk,” Guan Lin sighed and rested his chin on Woojin’s shoulder. “I want takoyaki now.”

“How does your thought process go from Jihoon being drunk to wanting takoyaki?” Jinyoung raised an eyebrow before he noted the takoyaki machine in Woojin’s arms. “Oh, never mind. I get it now.”

Daehwi shook his head as he watched Jihoon and Hyungseob fall to the floor while giggling. “I’m going to get cavities watching them. They’re too cute.”

Woojin silently agreed. Drunk Jihoon and Hyungseob were definitely Too Cute together. Woojin wondered if Hyungseob was always like this when drunk or if it was Jihoon’s influence causing him to act like this.

After Jihoon opened everyone’s presents and received kisses from all of the hyungs, they decided to call it a night. Minhyun left while carrying a passed out Jaehwan on his back, shaking his head when Jisung and Sungwoon offered their guest bedroom or couch for them to crash on.

“It’s okay, hyung. We have to get up early for work tomorrow, anyways. Our place is closer to the café and our uniforms are back home too. Sleep well!” Minhyun smiled at everyone before leaving.

“There’s no way Jaehwan hyung will get up in time for his shift tomorrow,” Jihoon giggled into Woojin’s shoulder. He had tripped over the game console controllers, and so Woojin had forced him to stand next to him.

“Are you guys going to go back to your dorms too?” Jisung asked, eyeing Jihoon and Hyungseob, who were clearly not in the right state of mind. “You guys can crash here if you want. It’s fine.”

Woojin bit his lip as he stared at Jihoon and Hyungseob. He knew Jihoon had left all his stuff back at home and wouldn’t wake up on time to stop by if he wanted to get to his shift at the bookstore on time. On the other hand, he knew he couldn’t get both Jihoon _and_ Hyungseob home on his own. Drunk Jihoon was a handful on his own – there was no way he could keep an eye on both of them at the same time.

When he glanced around the room in search of Jinyoung, Daehwi, and Guan Lin in hopes that one of them would be sober enough to help. When he saw that they were already gone he panicked a little. “Where are Jinyoung, Daehwi, and Guan Lin?”

“They’re sleeping over,” Sungwoon said. “They took the spare bedroom.”

“Do you need help getting them home?” Jisung asked worriedly. “I can drive you guys back, if you want.”

“No need,” Hyungseob chirped. “I texted my roommate and he’s coming to pick me up.”

Woojin let out a sigh of relief at that. “Does he know how to get here?”

Hyungseob scrunched up his nose in thought. “Um… I don’t know. But it’s okay! My Euiwoongie is smart.”

“Euiwoong! Euiwoong is smart,” Jihoon nodded in agreement before the two of them broke out into giggles again. Woojin sighed.

“What about Seongwoo hyung and Daniel hyung?” Woojin asked, ignoring the giggling pair. It sounded like they were having fun on their own anyways.

Sungwoon frowned and looked at Jisung. “Uh, I actually don’t know. I didn’t see them leave though, so they’re probably somewhere in the apartment?”

Jisung cursed under his breath. “I’m going to go check my room, be right back.” Woojin snorted as he and Sungwoon watched Jisung disappear down the hallway.

“Didn’t they fall asleep in the bathroom together last time?” Woojin asked in amusement.

“Just Seongwoo,” Sungwoon shook his head. “We found Daniel under the kitchen table. Jisung hyung almost threw them off the balcony.”

Woojin laughed loudly at that but stopped when Jihoon started whining. “What?”

“You’re too loud,” Jihoon whined and buried his face into Woojin’s shoulder. “Be quiet. Shush.”

Woojin rolled his eyes and flicked Jihoon’s head lightly. “You are definitely not one to talk. Do you know how loud you and Jaehwan hyung were tonight? I’m surprised no one came to complain.”

Jihoon looked up at him with a pout and Woojin chuckled fondly. He looked like a little chick getting scolded.

Neither of them noticed Sungwoon’s raised eyebrows and Hyungseob’s look of contemplation.

***

“This is for you.”

Hyungseob blinked at the Tupperware that was offered to him. “What?”

Jihoon placed the Tupperware down onto Hyungseob’s desk before taking his seat. “It’s takoyaki. I made it with the machine you got me for my birthday!” Jihoon beamed. “These are the prettiest ones from the batch. Woojin got all the ugly ones.”

Hyungseob laughed and took the Tupperware. “Thanks, Jihoon. This is great. I overslept this morning and missed breakfast.”

“Don’t skip meals!” Jihoon scolded. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!”

“It was just this once, don’t worry,” Hyungseob reassured his friend with a giggle. “Do you think the professor would get mad at me if I eat this during the lecture?”

“I don’t think so. I think I saw someone eating a box of pizza here the other week,” Jihoon made a face. “Besides, what is she going to do? Kick you out for eating? If she does, I’ll give you my notes for today and make Woojin tutor you if you need it.”

“Is Woojin good at chemistry?” Hyungseob looked surprised. “He told me he hated it a lot.”

Jihoon paused, thinking. “You’re right. Woojin shouldn’t be trusted with tutoring you in chemistry. I’ll do it myself if I have to.”

“Thanks, Jihoonie,” Hyungseob grinned and began to eat the takoyaki while Jihoon beamed in happiness.

***

The Friday after Jihoon’s actual birthday found him, Woojin, Jinyoung, and Daehwi in Jihoon and Woojin’s room. The four of them had decided to watch a movie and hang out.

“Why do we always do this in our room?” Woojin asked aloud as the four of them tried to squish onto Jihoon’s bed. “Why don’t we ever use the lounge?”

“Because the two of you hate small talk and socializing in general,” Daehwi rolled his eyes. “Which is bound to happen if we’re hanging out in the lounge.”

“He’s not wrong,” Jihoon shrugged. “Scoot over, Woojin.”

“You scoot over,” Woojin grumbled but moved over as much as he could. It was still uncomfortable, but it would have to do, Jihoon supposed.

“No PDA,” Jihoon complained when Daehwi gave up trying to get comfortable and plopped down onto Jinyoung’s lap. Jinyoung stuck his tongue out at the displeased Jihoon while Daehwi ignored him in lieu of questioning Woojin.

“So, Woojin hyung. What did you get Jihoon hyung for his birthday?” Daehwi asked with a tilt of his head. “You were the only one who didn’t give him his present at the party.”

“I’m taking him out for dinner and drinks tomorrow after dance practice,” Woojin said.

“Isn’t that what you guys do every Saturday?” Daehwi raised an eyebrow. He was aware of the little tradition the two of them had going on. He and Jinyoung were strictly uninvited to whatever outings the two went on since Jihoon claimed they would only do “gross couple-y things.”

Woojin shrugged. “It’ll be a nicer dinner. Maybe.”

“I want steak.” Jihoon poked Woojin’s side, who flinched.

“Keep poking me and you won’t get your steak,” Woojin scowled. Jihoon pouted but stopped poking Woojin’s side. Woojin laughed and threw his arm around Jihoon’s shoulders and brought him closer.

Daehwi and Jinyoung watched in resignation as the two idiots began to whisper to each other, completely ignoring the two of them. Jihoon and Woojin were in their own worlds at this point, and both Daehwi and Jinyoung knew it would be no use in trying to get their attentions until the movie started.

“They’re idiots,” Daehwi announced quietly. Jinyoung snorted and nodded in agreement.

“The biggest idiots, honestly.” Jinyoung shook his head. “Is Woojin hyung really only taking Jihoon hyung out for dinner and drinks, though? I honestly thought he’d get him something special this year.”

“Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if he is,” Daehwi sighed.

What Daehwi and Jinyoung didn’t know, however, was that Woojin had already given Jihoon his present on the morning of his birthday. He had saved up in order to buy Jihoon a set of picture books that he had secretly been wanting. Woojin knew that Jihoon loved picture books because of the art, and this particular set had been illustrated by one of Jihoon’s favorite artists.

When Woojin gave Jihoon his present, Jihoon had been ecstatic. He had thanked Woojin profusely while Woojin waved him off, telling him that it was no big deal. What Jihoon didn’t know was that Woojin had ordered this set almost three months in advance, as it wasn’t being sold in bookstores anymore. Woojin had spent several hours searching online trying to find a website where the entire set was being sold and not just one or two.

_It was definitely worth the time and money,_ Woojin thought fondly as he watched Jihoon read the books happily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes:  
> -jihoon's birthday party was hosted by jisung and sungwoon bc they're the only ones who live off campus at a place big enough for the 11 of them + hyungseob lol  
> -drunk jihoon and hyungseob giggling nonstop is my new aesthetic   
> -jihoon really likes picture books for the art and because after he graduates (or while he's still in school if hes lucky) he wants to become an illustrator or freelancer and drawing for picture books would be his ideal job  
> -icb 2park are like this i hate myself
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> comments make my day :')


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What are you doing,” he said in lieu of a greeting. Hyungseob looked up and blinked up at Woojin. There was some ice cream on his cheeks, which Woojin swiped off with his thumb before licking it off. “Why are you trying to eat your weight in ice cream.”
> 
> “This is my first meal of the day,” Hyungseob announced. “I just left the studio for the first time in like twenty-four hours.”

Woojin knew something was off when Hyungseob texted him asking him to meet up without offering any explanation and the lack of emoticons in his text. He had tried to ask the boy if something was wrong, but Hyungseob had assured him that nothing was wrong and that they just needed to talk.

Despite his lack of experience in dating, even Woojin knew that just needing to talk often meant that something was wrong.

And so when he walked into the ice cream parlor they agreed to meet at, he had been expecting something _other_ than Hyungseob trying to consume his entire weight in ice cream.

“What are you doing,” he said in lieu of a greeting. Hyungseob looked up and blinked up at Woojin. There was some ice cream on his cheeks, which Woojin swiped off with his thumb before licking it off. “Why are you trying to eat your weight in ice cream.”

“This is my first meal of the day,” Hyungseob announced. “I just left the studio for the first time in like twenty-four hours.”

“Hyungseob.” Woojin groaned. “You need to eat real food with real nutrients. Not ice cream. Why didn’t we meet up at a restaurant or the dining hall instead?”

“I wanted ice cream,” Hyungseob pouted. “We can share!”

Woojin gave him a look that read ‘that’s not the problem here’ but took the spoon Hyungseob offered anyways. “We’re going to get you some real food after this, okay?”

“Okay,” Hyungseob chirped.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Woojin asked.

“Oh, right.” Hyungseob set down his spoon with a serious expression. “I think we should stop this.”

Woojin paused and gave him a look of confusion. “Stop… eating ice cream?”

“No, not that. I meant this,” Hyungseob waved his arms around as if that would explain everything.

“You need to use your words, not your arms, Hyungseob. We talked about this.”

Hyungseob pouted but continued. “I really like you, Woojin, but I think that maybe we would be better off as friends?”

Woojin felt relief when he felt a weight he hadn’t even know was there being lifted from his shoulders. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” Hyungseob sighed. “I really like hanging out with you and stuff, but that’s all it feels like, you know? Two friends hanging out.”

Woojin let out a breath of relief. “Okay.”

“I know you’re probably crying inside,” Hyungseob said primly and reached over to give Woojin a pat on the head. “But don’t worry. I, the great and benevolent Ahn Hyungseob will still continue to be friends with you. If you’ll let me, of course.”

“I’m so honored,” Woojin smirked and gave a mocking bow the best he could while sitting in the booth. “Thank you, O Great Hyungseob, for gracing me, a lowly peasant, with your friendship.”

“You’re welcome,” Hyungseob stuck his nose up haughtily. “I’ll even buy you dinner tonight to make up for it.”

Woojin snorted and the two of them dissolved into laughter. They finished the ice cream and headed towards a nearby fast food place to get Hyungseob some much needed food. After eating, Woojin walked Hyungseob back to his dorm and left with a wave.

Hyungseob watched Woojin walk away with a sad expression on his face before walking into the building. He entered his room with a sigh and set down his bag on his desk before flopping facedown onto his bed.

“What’s up?” Euiwoong looked up from his notes. “Did you finish your art pieces?”

“Most of them, yeah,” came Hyungseob’s muffled response. Euiwoong frowned. He stood up and walked over to sit on Hyungseob’s bed and ran his fingers through Hyungseob’s hair.

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly. Hyungseob sighed before turning so that he was facing Euiwoong, though he stayed laying down.

“I told Woojin that we should just stay friends instead of dating,” Hyungseob said quietly.

“Why?” Euiwoong tilted his head. He knew that Hyungseob had genuinely liked Woojin.

“Well, I think he might be in love with Jihoon?” Hyungseob winced. Euiwoong’s face hardened as Hyungseob sat up.

“What?! So was he playing you this entire time?” he asked angrily. Hyungseob’s eyes widened and he shook his head.

“No! I don’t even think he realizes, honestly.” Hyungseob chuckled lightly. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t. Woojin’s great and all but his EQ is a little questionable.

Euiwoong sighed and tugged Hyungseob forward into a hug. “I’m sorry, Hyungseob. I know you liked him a lot.”

“Well, maybe not as much as I thought I did,” Hyungseob scrunched up his nose. “I thought I’d be a lot sadder, but all I can think about right now is how cute Jihoon and Woojin would be, honestly. Once they get themselves together, anyways.”

“Do you know how Jihoon feels?” Euiwoong pulled back a little to look at Hyungseob’s face to make sure his friend was telling the truth.

“I don’t think he realizes either but I’m pretty sure Jihoon feels the same way,” Hyungseob admitted. “Jihoon’s not the type of person who would set his friend up with someone he has feelings for.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think so either,” Euiwoong shook his head slightly. “Are you really okay, though?”

Hyungseob hummed before giving Euiwoong a mischievous look. “I will be if my wonderful roommate buys me pizza.”

Euiwoong grunted and flicked Hyungseob’s forehead. “Fine. Just this once, though.”

“Thanks, Euiwoongie!” Hyungseob threw his arms around Euiwoong and the two of them fell backwards and off the bed with a squeal. “Oops.”

“I hate you,” Euiwoong groaned from under Hyungseob. “I hate you so much.

***

to: **fashionHWIsta**

where r u

from: **fashionHWIsta**

library with jinyoung hyung and jihoon hyung

why

to: **fashionHWIsta**

ok

im omw

from: **fashionHWIsta**

???

thought u were w hyungseob hyung?

to: **fashionHWIsta**

yeah

i was

from: **fashionHWIsta**

???

its been like maybe an hour since u left

to: **fashionHWIsta**

ya we had ice cream and burgers

from: **fashionHWIsta**

in that order???

to: **fashionHWIsta**

art students r weird

from: **fashionHWIsta**

jihoon hyung said hes going to kick ur ass when u get here

to: **fashionHWIsta**

lmao

he can try

from: **fashionHWIsta**

plz don’t get us kicked out of the library

to: **fashionHWIsta**

dw we wont

we’re not ongniel hyungs

from: **fashionHWIsta**

loll

so y did ur date w hyungseob hyung end so early

to: **fashionHWIsta**

is jihoon reading these texts

from: **fashionHWIsta**

no he went back to studying for chinese

to: **fashionHWIsta**

ok good

don’t tell him he might kill me even tho its not my fault

from: **fashionHWIsta**

huh??

wait

oh my god

did u and hyungseob hyung break up????

to: **fashionHWIsta**

we werent even dating

from: **fashionHWIsta**

u know what i mean!!

omg what happened???

to: **fashionHWIsta**

nothing really???

he just said that he thinks we would be better off as friends

and that we should stop going on the dates and stuff

from: **fashionHWIsta**

omg

so u got dumped

to: **fashionHWIsta**

daehwi please

from: **fashionHWIsta**

ok sorry

are u ok????

to: **fashionHWIsta**

yeah im fine

tbh if he hadnt brought it up i probably would’ve eventually

our “dates” felt more like friends hanging out anyways

just with more hand holding

from: **fashionHWIsta**

ooooo

ur lucky he brought it up first tho

jihoon hyung would’ve killed u if u made hyungseob hyung sad

to: **fashionHWIsta**

true

from: **fashionHWIsta**

yeah

whats taking u so long to get here though

jihoon hyung looks like hes going to rip his hair out

i think he needs help w chinese

to: **fashionHWIsta**

lmao

im almost there i had to stop by my dorm first to get my stuff

jihoon will never accept my help

from: **fashionHWIsta**

he looks desperate enough lmao

hurry up im tired of having to listen to his whining

to: **fashionHWIsta**

don’t be rude

im going up the steps rn

from: **fashionHWIsta**

k see u in like 30 sec !!

***

Hyungseob laughed when Jihoon pouted up at him when he walked into chemistry. “What’s wrong?”

“You and Woojin,” Jihoon whined. “What happened?”

“Nothing bad happened, don’t worry,” Hyungseob smiled. “We both agreed that we were better off as friends, that’s all.”

Jihoon sighed sadly. “Too bad. You guys were really cute together. I wish it could’ve worked out.”

“Are you sure about that?” Hyungseob chuckled and gave Jihoon a look.

“Huh?” Jihoon looked at him in confusion.

“It’s nothing,” Hyungseob chortled. “Poor Woojin, he really has his work cut out for him, doesn’t he?”

“What are you talking about?” Jihoon was lost.

Hyungseob pat his head with a small smirk. “It’s nothing, my dear Jihoonie. You’ll find out soon, don’t worry.”

With that, Hyungseob turned forward to pay attention to their professor, who had started lecturing, leaving Jihoon to stare at him in confusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes:  
> -hyungseob did really like woojin but not to the point where he was super broken up/sad about them stopping where they were. as i said, hyungseob is a literal angel that we dont deserve and he genuinely is going to hope that 2park get their shit together :,,)  
> -because i most likely wont be able to include this in the main story im going to put this here: euiwoong has feelings for hyungseob and eventually confesses and the two of them start dating!!! this happens before 2park gets it together bc both euiwoong and hyungseob are Slightly smarter than the two of them are l o l  
> -jihoon is taking elementary (beginners) chinese while woojin tested out of it and takes advanced chinese with jaehwan!  
> -as u can tell, jihoon is also a Dumb (him and woojin are truly soulmates) and he genuinely has no idea what hyungseob is talking abt but hopefully he figures it out soon !! lolol
> 
> come talk to me on twitter!! and also i made a curiouscat a few days ago and im thinking about maybe taking requests for short drabbles..? idk if anyone is interested but here are the links!!  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/iridescent__ong) | [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/iridescent__ong)
> 
> comments make my day :') i hope you all enjoyed this chapter~~  
> thank you for reading!!!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why are you wearing my hoodie?” Woojin had asked, stuttering a little. Jihoon squinted when he thought Woojin was turning a little red, but blamed it on the heat.
> 
> “Oh, is this yours?” Jihoon looked down. “My bad. I was in a rush this morning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *chapter takes a few weeks after the last one! it's going to be a little confusing because there was a time skip and some stuff happened during those weeks, but it will make sense in the next chapter!!

There was something wrong with Woojin.

It didn’t seem like there was anything wrong with him on the outside, but Jihoon knew him better than most people. Yes, Woojin was going to all his classes, eating all his meals, keeping up with his schoolwork, but whenever Jihoon would ask him something, Woojin would jump in shock as if Jihoon had done something surprising.

Take this morning, for example. Jihoon had been running late because he slept through all of his alarms ( _again,_ Woojin would add), and so he had rushed around in order to get to his History of Design class on time.

In his rush, he hadn’t noticed that he grabbed Woojin’s hoodie until he ran into the latter on his way to the library

“Why are you wearing my hoodie?” Woojin had asked, stuttering a little. Jihoon squinted when he thought Woojin was turning a little red, but blamed it on the heat.

“Oh, is this yours?” Jihoon looked down. “My bad. I was in a rush this morning.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Woojin grumbled. He had been woken up far earlier than he had to be. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re wearing my hoodie.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “I must’ve picked it up on accident, my bad. Do you want it back now?” He gave Woojin a flat look and moved to take the hoodie off despite not wearing anything inside. He knew Woojin would stop him before he could.

What he hadn’t expected, however, was Woojin turning into a blushing mess and stopping Jihoon in shock. “What are you doing?!” Woojin squeaked – _actually_ squeaked – as he moved to stop Jihoon. “You’re not even wearing anything inside, are you?”

“No,” Jihoon snickered. “I knew you would stop me. Why are you so red? You should get some water, you look a little hot.”

Woojin sighed and stepped back, rubbing the back of his neck in thought. “It’s nothing. I have to get to class. I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah, see you,” Jihoon waved and the two went on their way.

That wasn’t all. The other day, Jihoon had stolen some of Woojin’s food and Woojin had, to put it mildly, flipped out. Jihoon hadn’t seen anything wrong with it; they stole each other’s food all the time. But Woojin was acting like Jihoon had done something horribly wrong like insult his sister (as if Jihoon would ever do that; Yerim was too sweet for her own good) or told Woojin that his dancing sucked.

“What’s your problem?” Jihoon asked once Woojin calmed down. The latter had apologized but Jihoon wasn’t going to let this go. “First you freak out because I _accidentally_ took your hoodie instead of mine, and now you freak out because I took a bite of your pizza? What’s going on?”

Woojin turned red and mumbled something under his breath Jihoon couldn’t quite catch. Across from them, Daehwi snorted while Jinyoung shook his head.

“What?” Jihoon leaned in closer to hear better, but Woojin leaned back in response.

“I _said_ you should do stuff like that with your boyfriend, not me,” Woojin hissed and immediately regretted his words.

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” Jihoon pointed out patiently, as if he was explaining something to a child. “And we’ve always done stuff like this. Why is it suddenly becoming a problem now?”

“No reason,” Woojin pushed his food away and stood up. “I have to go. I, uh, have dance practice. Bye.”

Jihoon, Daehwi, and Jinyoung watched as Woojin bolted from the cafeteria with varying degrees of confused and exasperated expressions on their faces.

“What the heck was that?” Jihoon was the one to break the silence.

“He doesn’t even have dance practice on Thursdays,” Jinyoung said.

“Woojin hyung is an idiot,” Daehwi announced. “If he’s not coming back for his pizza, can I have it? Or do you want it, Jihoon hyung?”

“You can have it,” Jihoon nodded and pushed the pizza towards Daehwi.

“Thanks,” Daehwi chewed on the pizza happily. “Are you going to talk to Woojin hyung?”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “He’s barely in our room these days and I never see him on my way to classes. He won’t answer my texts either, that asshole.”

“Any idea why he’s acting this way?” Jinyoung asked with a raised eyebrow. “Did you do something weird to him, hyung?”

“No,” Jihoon pouted. “I didn’t do anything! That’s why I’m so confused.”

Daehwi let out a thoughtful hum. He had an idea of what was going on, but he wanted to confirm with Woojin before he said anything. “I’m sure he’ll come around, Jihoon hyung. It’s not the first time Woojin hyung’s acting like an idiot, after all.”

“True.” Jihoon let out a discontented sigh. “I hope he comes around soon, though.”

***

Jihoon felt a little betrayed. It was Saturday night, and he had just finished his shift at the bookstore. He had just finished closing up but there was no sight of Woojin. He let out a disappointed sigh and began his trek back to the dorm. He knew Woojin was avoiding him for some reason but he didn’t know the boy would bail on their Saturday tradition so easily.

“Stupid Woojin.” Jihoon kicked a stray pebble and frowned. “Why is he so stupid?”

“Why is who so stupid?”

Jihoon jumped and whirled around and saw Seongwoo and Daniel grinning at him. They waved and jogged to catch up with him. “Hey, Jihoonie.”

“Hyungs.” Jihoon was a little stunned. He hadn’t expected to see the two of them around here. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re picking you up, what else?” Seongwoo shrugged and ruffled Jihoon’s hair. The three began walking towards Jihoon’s dorm. “Woojin sent us. He said he was sorry for not being able to come, but Taehyun hyung has him chained to the practice room right now.”

“Yeah, he might be getting a solo for our dance showcase coming up.” Daniel grinned widely. “Taehyun hyung’s drilling some choreo into him.”

“Oh.” Jihoon blinked. So Woojin hadn’t bailed on him, after all. “Why couldn’t he text me this instead of sending you guys?”

“Okay, first of all, rude,” Seongwoo made a face at Jihoon, who laughed a little. “His phone is dead, apparently. I think Woojin needs to get his life together.”

“I second that opinion.” Daniel raised his hand.

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “You guys aren’t alone. Jinyoung, Daehwi, and I tell him that every chance we get.”

“Yeah, well in this case we think he needs to get his life together even more than usual,” Seongwoo muttered under his breath.

“Huh? What did you say, hyung?” Jihoon blinked at Seongwoo. “I didn’t hear.”

“Nothing, Jihoonie. I just said Woojin’s an idiot, that’s all,” Seongwoo flashed Jihoon a winning smile. “Oh, look, we’re at your dorm! In you go, little one.”

Jihoon was confused as he was practically shoved inside by Seongwoo and Daniel who gave him innocent grins complete with a wave. “Uh, okay. Thanks for walking me home, I guess. I’ll see you guys later?”

“Definitely,” Seongwoo nodded a little too enthusiastically. “Feel free to stop by the café tomorrow! I’m taking the morning shift.”

“Don’t you work with Woojin?” Jihoon asked in confusion.

“I had Jaehwan switch with me because I have a group study thing at 6,” Seongwoo winced. “Stop by before your shift at the bookstore and I’ll treat you to some coffee.”

“I would stay stop by the restaurant but I still work the night shift, so,” Daniel shrugged a little. “Feel free to stop by afterwards, though. Hyung will get some food into you. You’re getting a little too thin, Jihoonie. Are you skipping meals?”

“No, I’m not,” Jihoon assured Daniel. “I’m eating normally, I promise.”

Seongwoo gave him a suspicious look but let it go. “If you say so. Okay, go in now. We’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay,” Jihoon gave the two of them a small smile. “Bye, hyungs. Get home safe!”

“We will!” Daniel waved and he and Seongwoo waited for Jihoon to go inside before leaving. “Why did we just spend the past fifteen minutes lying to Jihoon’s face?”

“Because Park Woojin is an idiot,” Seongwoo grumbled. “An idiot that I adore, sure, but an idiot nonetheless. If he hurts little Jihoonie, I’ll probably punch him in the face and break my hand.”

“Please don’t punch Woojin in the face and break your hand,” Daniel snorted. “Taehyun hyung will kill you for punching Woojin, then kill you again for breaking your hand. We need both Woojin’s face and your hand intact for the showcase.”

Seongwoo sighed and linked his arm with Daniel’s. “He better get his shit together soon. I’m not going to cover for him like this again. Not if we have to lie to Jihoon.”

“I’m sure he’ll figure himself out soon,” Daniel gave Seongwoo a little pat on the head. “Don’t worry too much, hyung.”

“Hard not to, with Woojin’s lack of capacity for emotions.”

“That’s also very true.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes:  
> -2park and jinhwi grab dinner together on thursdays after they finish their classes!  
> -woojin only has dance practice on saturdays so he's a lying liar who lies ooooooo  
> -ongniel knows what's going on with woojin but woojin begged them not to tell jihoon until he figures himself out first lolol (wonder what's going on !!)  
> -also if u didnt catch it woojin wasn't forced to stay back by taehyun thats an excuse ongniel and woojin came up with to keep jihoon from being suspicious (but its Too Late)
> 
> this chapter was shorter than usual but thats bc it's sort of an introduction to the next part of the story :') some stuff might have been confusing? but thats bc this is in jihoon's pov (on purpose) but when we switch back to woojin's the holes will be filled!!
> 
> also i take requests for oneshots on my cc so feel free to send in any requests you have~~~  
> comments make my day :'))) i hope you enjoyed this chapter!! <3
> 
>  
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/iridescent__ong) | [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/iridescent__ong)


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “My poor son,” Seongwoo shook his head and brought Woojin into a hug, which the latter protested. Seongwoo was sweaty. Woojin was sweaty. This was not a good mix. “Do you need anything? Alcohol? A new boyfriend? Just name it and hyung will get it for you.”
> 
> Woojin managed to escape and shot Seongwoo a dirty look. “I want a million dollars and a 4.0 GPA.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for 292 kudos!! <3
> 
> *chapter takes place right before the last part of the previous chapter :)

Woojin collapsed onto the floor with a sigh once dance practice ended. Practice had been getting more and more intense with their showcase coming up in a few weeks.

He took the water bottle Seongwoo offered him with a breathless “thanks” and chugged half the bottle in one go.

“So,” Seongwoo said as he plopped down in front of Woojin. “We heard about the break up.”

“Break up?” Woojin raised a questioning eyebrow. Daniel sat down next to Seongwoo and gave Woojin a light pat on the leg.

“Yeah. You and Hyungseob? Daehwi told Jisung hyung who told me that the two of you ended things.” Daniel explained. “Jisung hyung told us it’s been a few weeks since you guys broke up. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Oh. Well, it’s not really breaking up if you weren’t dating in the first place, right?” Woojin shrugged a little. “Besides, I wasn’t sure how to bring it up I guess. Not really a topic to bring up in the middle of practice, right?”

“True,” Daniel nodded. “But you’re okay? I heard he brought it up first.” He had a worried look and Woojin chuckled a little.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It was mutual, so don’t worry about me, hyungs.”

“My poor son,” Seongwoo shook his head and brought Woojin into a hug, which the latter protested. Seongwoo was sweaty. Woojin was sweaty. This was not a good mix. “Do you need anything? Alcohol? A new boyfriend? Just name it and hyung will get it for you.”

Woojin managed to escape and shot Seongwoo a dirty look. “I want a million dollars and a 4.0 GPA.”

“Never mind. You’re on your own, pal.”

Woojin snorted and shook his head. Seongwoo was ridiculous. “Wow, thanks hyung.”

“Anytime, brat,” Seongwoo said fondly. “So, you wanna tell us what’s bothering you or are we just going to ignore it?”

Woojin flinched. There really was no hiding anything from Seongwoo. When Seongwoo and Daniel notice him hesitating, they smile at him reassuringly.

“No pressure, Woojin,” Daniel said with a comforting smile. “We just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“How did you guys meet?” Woojin asked after a beat of silence. Seongwoo and Daniel looked at each other in surprise. They weren’t expecting a question like this.

“Any particular reason you’re asking us this?” Seongwoo tilted his head in curiosity. Woojin turned a little red and mumbled out a ‘no’. Seongwoo and Daniel exchange looks again but decide to leave it alone for now. “Well, we actually went to the same middle school and high school.”

“Oh, really?” Woojin asked in surprise. “I didn’t know this.”

“Yeah, not many people know.” Daniel shrugged. “We didn’t really start talking until I joined the dance team during my first year in high school.”

“Ah, I see.” Woojin nodded. “That makes sense since you’re a year below Seongwoo hyung, I guess.”

“Yeah.” Seongwoo leaned back to get comfortable. “We hit it off pretty well. We were pretty much best friends by the time the school year was coming to an end.”

Woojin hummed. “So how did you end up dating? Wasn’t it awkward going from being best friends to lovers?”

Seongwoo raised an eyebrow at this and looked at Daniel knowingly. He had a feeling he knew where this was coming from and where Woojin was going with this.

“Well,” Daniel smirked. “We were invited to compete in a really big dance competition, and Seongwoo hyung kissed me when we won first place.”

Woojin’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He had always thought it was Daniel who had made the first move. “No way? Seongwoo hyung made the first move? _Seongwoo hyung_?”

“Hey,” Seongwoo protested a little. “Why do you doubt me, Woojinnie?”

Woojin ignored him and gestured for Daniel to continue. “What happened next?”

“He ran away from me and avoided me for like three days until I cornered him and kissed him.” Daniel laughed. Woojin made a face.

“Wow, that’s really gross. Sorry I asked.”

“Oh, hush you fetus.” Seongwoo shushed him. “Don’t act like you’ve never kissed anyone before.”

Woojin turned red and looked to the side, avoiding eye-contact. He mumbled something under his breath that Seongwoo couldn’t quite catch.

“What was that?” Seongwoo leaned in closer. “I didn’t hear you.”

“I said I haven’t.” Woojin grumbled. “I’ve never kissed anyone before.”

Seongwoo and Daniel were silent. Woojin, who looked like he could eat you up on stage had never had his first kiss before?

“You’ve dated before though, right?” Daniel blinked. “Did you not kiss Hyungseob?”

“I’ve had exactly one relationship before my thing with Hyungseob,” Woojin said dryly. “And no, I didn’t kiss Hyungseob. I told you. We weren’t dating.”

“Did you not kiss your ex-boyfriends then?” Seongwoo asked.

“Girlfriend,” Woojin corrected. “And I’ve only dated once before in my life.”

Seongwoo squinted. “What?”

“Girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend,” Woojin repeated slowly.

“I thought you said you were gay.”

“I am,” Woojin said. “This relationship was before I knew.”

“Ah.” Daniel and Seongwoo both made a noise of understanding. “I get it now.”

“Yeah,” Woojin sighed. “Anyways, back to the topic. Wasn’t it weird to start dating after being best friends?”

Seongwoo smiled a little. “Well, I knew I liked Daniel from the minute he gave me that bunny smile of his on the first day of dance practice to be honest, so it didn’t feel weird for me at all. If anything, it felt more natural compared to before because I didn’t have to hold myself back from holding his hand or kissing him when I wanted to.”

“I see.” Woojin played with his fingers and scrunched up his nose. “What about you, Niel hyung?”

Daniel looked a little sheepish and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I didn’t really realize that I liked Seongwoo hyung until he kissed me, to be honest. I think I knew subconsciously that I did, but it never really hit me, you know? But when he kissed me I was kind of like ‘oh wow, I want to do that again but with only him and no one else’.”

“And that’s when you realized you liked him?” Woojin tilted his head.

“Yeah.” Daniel smiled widely. “Also, it’s 7:50? Don’t you have to go pick Jihoon up from the bookstore now?”

Woojin jumped and looked at his watch. “Oh, fuck. I was actually going to stay back a bit to practice a little bit more. Taehyun hyung told me I should audition for one of the solo spots.”

“Really.” Seongwoo eyed Woojin. “This isn’t an excuse, right? Don’t think we don’t know, you brat. Daehwi told us how you’ve been avoiding Jihoon these past few weeks.”

Woojin winced as he stood up. “Oh, um. I can explain.”

“I hope you can,” Seongwoo said as he stood up as well. “You should keep in mind that before anything else, Jihoon’s your best friend. He’ll understand whatever it is that you’re going through.”

He doesn’t mention the fact that he and Daniel knew _exactly_ what Woojin was going through and agreed to cover for Woojin’s absence and go pick Jihoon up themselves. He warned Woojin that he should get himself together soon unless he wanted hurt Jihoon even more than he probably already was.

“I know.” Woojin looked down at the floor. “I know, hyung.”

***

Woojin walked into Café Atlantis with a sigh. He wasn’t looking forward to work at all; he had a feeling that Seongwoo would have more to say about his… problems regarding a certain art student.

And so, when he saw that Seongwoo was getting ready to leave, Woojin was pleasantly surprised. “Seongwoo hyung?”

Seongwoo looked up from tying his shoelaces. “Oh, hey. You’re working with Jaehwan tonight.”

“Oh, okay.” Woojin blinked. “Why?”

“I have a group study thing tonight at six for one of my classes,” Seongwoo sighed. “I’m hoping I trip on the way there and break my leg or something so that I don’t have to go.”

“But that would mean you would have to sit out for the competition too,” Woojin pointed out as he got ready for his shift. “Also don’t you have a theater production coming up some time after summer break?”

Seongwoo sighed. “Life is hard.”

“How tragic,” Minhyun remarked when he walked into the staff room. “Hey, Woojin. Jaehwan’s waiting for you outside.”

“Hi hyung.” Woojin waved. “Okay. Bye, Seongwoo hyung. Have fun at your group study thing! Bye, Minhyun hyung.”

“Bye.” Seongwoo and Minhyun waved. Woojin left the staff room and joined Jaehwan at the counter.

“Hi, hyung.”

“Sup, brat?” Jaehwan greeted Woojin with a pat on the head. “How are you?”

Woojin grimaced. “I don’t think college is for me.”

Jaehwan cackled. “Don’t worry, I feel the same way.”

Woojin cracked a grin at this and the two quickly got to work. The café was busy as usual, and there was barely any time for the two of them to make small talk. Jaehwan was busy taking orders while Woojin was busy shuffling around making said orders.

Most of his coworkers preferred manning the cash register, but Woojin favored making drinks over having to make small talk with customers. Sure, some of their regulars still made small talk with him while they waited on their drinks, but he could deal with that since they usually left him alone once their drinks were ready.

Seongwoo was more than willing to let Woojin stay in the back making drinks while he took orders and interacted with the customers. He heard from Minhyun that Seongwoo had burned his hands a few times when he first started working and hated their steaming machine with a passion afterwards.

Jaehwan was also happy to stay up in the front to man the cash register. Woojin was glad, because he knew that Jaehwan usually made drinks when he worked with Minhyun in the mornings.

Once the stream of customers trickled to a stop, Jaehwan and Woojin let out sighs as they slumped down in exhaustion.

“Are Sunday nights always this bad?” Jaehwan grimaced. “Man, I thought the morning shift was bad, but you guys have it worse.”

Woojin just grunted in response and stretched his wrist out. After taking a short break, Woojin got to washing the cups in the sink while Jaehwan went out to wipe down the tables and throw away any trash left behind.

“Hey, Jaehwan hyung,” Woojin started when Jaehwan came back. “Can I ask you something?”

Jaehwan raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, of course. What’s up?”

“How did you and Minhyun hyung start dating?” Woojin blurted out, causing Jaehwan to pause.

“Um.” Jaehwan didn’t know where to start. “If I told you I wooed him with my endless charms, would you believe me?”

“No.” Woojin smirked. “Definitely not.”

“Rude,” Jaehwan huffed. “Uh, well, we were introduced to each other at a party through Seongwoo hyung, actually. And of course, me being me, got drunk off my ass and ended up falling asleep on top of Minhyun hyung. Don’t ask me how I ended up on top off him because I don’t know either.”

“Wow,” Woojin deadpanned. “That is so like you that I don’t even know what to say.”

“Don’t be sassy, you brat.” Jaehwan scolded. “You’re the one who asked. So, why are you asking?”

“Well.” Woojin leaned back onto the counter. After the talk he had with Seongwoo and Daniel last night after practice, he couldn’t stop thinking about his recent feelings towards Jihoon. “Well.”

“Yes, sweetie, you’re doing amazing.” Jaehwan rolled his eyes. “Out with it, brat.”

“What does it mean when you feel super jumpy around a friend of yours, and every little thing they do makes your stomach feel weird?”

Jaehwan stared. “Are you talking about Jihoon?”

“No,” Woojin protested weakly, but he knew he wasn’t fooling anyone. He was proven correct when Jaehwan snorted in response.

“Right. Well, we all agreed to leave the two of you alone and not meddle, but fuck it.”

“What?” Woojin frowned.

Jaehwan sighed and stood up straight. He glanced at the door and turned back to look at Woojin after confirming that no customer was walking in. “Woojin, you like Jihoon.”

“Well, yeah, we’re best friends,” Woojin said with a small frown.

“No, you idiot.” Jaehwan rolled his eyes. “You _like_ Jihoon.”

Woojin gulped. “How do you know? How am _I_ supposed to know?”

“You just said it yourself, didn’t you?” Jaehwan pointed out patiently. “You feel jumpy and nervous when you’re around him and every little thing he does gives you butterflies?”

“I didn’t say he gave me butterflies,” Woojin mumbled, but Jaehwan ignored him.

“Have you ever caught yourself looking for him when you’re in a crowded place?” Jaehwan asked, and Woojin flinched a little. Yeah, he has. “Have you ever caught yourself thinking about him without even realizing? Maybe you saw something you thought he would like or something that reminded you of him. Or maybe you were out with someone else and realized that you’d rather be hanging out with Jihoon.”

Woojin stayed silent and contemplated Jaehwan’s words. “What if I have?” Woojin asked quietly. “What does that mean?”

“That means, my dearest Woojin, you’re probably in love with Jihoon.” Jaehwan said bluntly.

“Fuck.” Woojin buried his face into his hands.

“Fuck, indeed,” Jaehwan agreed. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know,” Woojin groaned. “What do I do, hyung?”

Jaehwan sighed. “That’s not something I can tell you, Woojin. You’re going to have to figure that one out for yourself. I would recommend though that you start by stop avoiding Jihoon.”

“So you know too, huh.” Woojin sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. “Who doesn’t know?”

“Guanlin, probably, but that’s only because he chooses not to get involved with our bullshit. Not that I can blame him, honestly. We should probably learn a thing or two from him.”

“Yeah,” Woojin agreed. “I’ll probably talk to Jihoon soon.”

“Good.” Jaehwan pat Woojin on the head. “Don’t worry about it too much, Woojin. You’re probably not the only one thinking this way.”

“Huh?” Woojin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Jaehwan sang. “You’ll see soon.”

“Hyung?” Woojin asked, but he was ignored as a customer walked in at that time. Jaehwan turned back to him with a smirk before facing forward to take their order.

Woojin began making drinks again, his thoughts clouded with confusion. What was Jaehwan talking about? Who else was thinking this way? What even was the ‘this way’ Jaehwan was talking about?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes:  
> -woojin being a Dumb about his feelings and avoiding jihoon to do smth about it? more likely than u think  
> -seongwoo and daniel being the supportive hyungs and noticing smth's bothering woojin is a concept im very much here for  
> -they're also 100% done with woojin being an idiot but  
> -ongniel doesn't think there's anything wrong w woojin not having had his first kiss yet but they assumed (bc of his personality and how popular he is) that he's dated a bit in high school so that's why they're surprised!! everyone except maknae line (minus guanlin) only met in college so they don't know how high schooler woojin was (awkward and only cared about dance and jihoon)  
> -woojin's ex-girlfriend is yoojung who's currently dating doyeon lmao  
> -i worked part-time at a cafe irl and wow manning the cash register >>>>>>> making drinks esp when its busy  
> -if anyone's curious: minhwan met at a party and were introduced to each other by seongwoo and after jaehwan fell asleep on top of him minhyun thought he was cute so he asked jaehwan out for coffee and the rest is history :,))  
> -hyung-line had a talk about 2park and decided they should let them figure their feelings out for themselves since they're Big Boys (little babies,,) but jaehwan's had enough of them being Dumbs around each other :')))) now that woojin knows can someone let jihoon know ty  
> -tag urself im guanlin not giving a fck and staying out of this bs LOLOL
> 
> this story is coming to an end! TT i think there should be like... 2~4 chapters left depending on how i want to space it out lolol :'))))
> 
> hope you enjoyed this chapter!! comments make my day (❁´◡`❁)
> 
>  
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/iridescent__ong) | [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/iridescent__ong)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What’s wrong with you?” Daehwi asked him. The two of them were at the library; Daehwi was studying for the calculus midterm he had next week while Woojin was trying to finish the problem set for chemistry he had put off doing for the past month.
> 
> “What do you mean?” Woojin looked up from his textbook and frowned. “Is this about me procrastinating again? I swear I tried but–”
> 
> “What? No.” It was Daehwi’s turn to frown. “I could care less about you procrastinating on your chemistry homework again. You can fail the class for all I care.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 310 kudos!!!!! i am truly blessed and i love u all ˙˚ʚ(´◡`)ɞ˚˙
> 
> -first part takes place on a wednesday  
> -everything after that takes place on the monday after!

Despite telling Jaehwan that Woojin would talk to Jihoon soon, Woojin spent the rest of the month continuing to avoid and ignore him. It’s hard, seeing how he literally shared a room with the boy, but Woojin sucked it up and continued to stay out until late, going back to his dorm only _after_ he knew Jihoon was asleep for sure. He also woke up earlier than he had to and was out of the room before Jihoon himself woke up to attend his classes.

“What’s wrong with you?” Daehwi asked him. The two of them were at the library; Daehwi was studying for the calculus midterm he had next week while Woojin was trying to finish the problem set for chemistry he had put off doing for the past month.

“What do you mean?” Woojin looked up from his textbook and frowned. “Is this about me procrastinating again? I swear I tried but–”

“What? No.” It was Daehwi’s turn to frown. “I could care less about you procrastinating on your chemistry homework again. You can fail the class for all I care.”

“Wow.” Woojin deadpanned.

“Stop avoiding Jihoon hyung,” Daehwi scolded. Woojin immediately shut up and looked back down at his textbook in an effort to ignore Daehwi. It failed. “He goes around looking like a kicked puppy. It’s so sad.”

Woojin sighed and set his pencil down. “I know. I just don’t know what to do.”

“I don’t understand why you’re overthinking it so much,” Daehwi squinted and pointed his pen in Woojin’s direction. “Just tell hyung that you’ve been in love with him since you shared your animal crackers with him in primary school.”

“Oh, my God.” Woojin buried his face into his hands. “Where’s Jinyoung? I need him to take you away from me.”

“Your savior is here.” Jinyoung appeared out of nowhere and Woojin stared up at him in awe as Jinyoung sat down next to Daehwi. “What’s up, guys?”

“Woojin hyung is an idiot,” Daehwi declared at the same time Woojin said, “Nothing much.”

“I see.” Jinyoung raised an eyebrow and his lips quirked up in amusement. “Well, just in time then.”

“Huh?” Woojin and Daehwi both turned and saw that Jihoon was walking towards them with an angry expression on his face.

 _Guess he’s done being a kicked puppy, then,_ Woojin thought to himself absently. “Oh, shit.”

“Park Woojin–” Jihoon started angrily when he was within hearing range. He was interrupted, however, by Woojin jumping up from his seat and packing up his belongings in record time.

“I have class,” he blurted out despite knowing that Jihoon knew that Woojin did not, in fact, have class at 7p.m. on Wednesday evenings. “Bye.”

He dodged Jihoon’s attempts of grabbing him, and if Woojin had turned back just one more time, he would’ve noticed the devastated look on Jihoon’s face that screamed ‘heartbreak.’

***

Jaehwan nudged Seongwoo when he noticed Jihoon eating alone in the corner of the dining hall. “It’s Jihoonie!”

Seongwoo grunted but turned to where Jaehwan was pointing and squinted a little before brightening up. “Jihoonie!”

The two of them head over to where Jihoon is sitting. Jaehwan sat down next to said boy while Seongwoo seated himself across from them. Jihoon jumped in surprise and stared at his hyungs, who grinned at him happily.

“Hi, Jihoonie.” Jaehwan wrapped an arm around Jihoon and pulled him in for a hug. “How’s my favorite demon doing today?”

“Not well,” Jihoon signed but returned Jaehwan’s hug.

“What? Who hurt my son?” Jaehwan pulled back with a frown. “Who do I have to kill? Just give me a name, Jihoon, and I’ll get them for you.”

“Who is it?” Seongwoo asked seriously. “Whose life do I need to ruin?”

Jihoon let out a small laugh and made grabby hands towards Jaehwan, who immediately pulled him into a hug again. “Thanks, hyungs, but you don’t need to kill or ruin anyone’s lives today.”

Jaehwan pouted. “Who hurt my Jihoonie though? I’ll just have a chat with them, then.”

“What Jaehwan said.” Seongwoo nodded. “Don’t worry. We won’t hurt anyone. We’ll just have a nice, friendly chat with them.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Jihoon said dryly but chuckled. “It’s really nothing.”

“Jihoon,” Seongwoo gave him a look. “You can tell us anything, you know that, right?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon slumped and leaned into Jaehwan more, who tightened his arms around Jihoon. “It’s Woojin,” he said after some hesitation.

“Oh, my God,” Jaehwan mumbled irritably. “Don’t tell me…”

“He’s avoiding me,” Jihoon complained, feeling a sudden surge of anger. “It’s been like, a month, month and a half, since I’ve last seen him. I don’t even know what I did wrong, so I can’t apologize because he won’t even look at me in the face! He ignores my calls and messages. He purposely stays out late until I fall asleep and leaves the room early in the morning before I wake up for class. I saw him for the first time in a _week_ in the library the last Wednesday and tried to talk to him, but do you know what that bastard did? He lied and said he had classes and literally bolted out of there before I could get a single word in. I don’t understand what I did wrong for him to treat him like I don’t even exist.

“I just want my best friend back,” Jihoon whimpered and buried his face into Jaehwan’s shoulder. Jaehwan’s face darkened and he mumbled comforting words into Jihoon’s hair as the younger boy started crying.

“I’m going to kill him.” Seongwoo announced, his face also dark. He and Jaehwan sat there, not knowing what to do or say as Jihoon continued to cry quietly. They could sort of understand why Woojin was acting like this, but they couldn’t help but feel angry towards him for making Jihoon cry like this.

“Jihoonie, look at me,” Jaehwan mumbled softly and nudged Jihoon to lift his head up. “Aigoo, our Jihoonie looks so handsome even when he’s crying!” Jaehwan tried to make the atmosphere a little lighter and he wiped away Jihoon’s tears with one hand. “Don’t cry, Jihoonie. We’ll beat Woojin up for you and make sure he talks to you soon, okay?”

Jihoon sniffed and nodded, leaning into Jaehwan’s touch. “Thanks, Jjaeni hyung.”

“Of course.” Jaehwan gave Jihoon a kiss on the forehead. “We’re always here for you.”

“Jihoon,” Seongwoo said. His eyes were uncharacteristically serious; a far cry from the usually playful hyung Jihoon knew him to be. “You know you can come to us any time, right? For advice, help on schoolwork, or if you just need someone to rant to. I know you usually go to Daehwi or Jinyoung, but always remember that we’re here too, okay?”

“Okay,” Jihoon said. He reached out to take Seongwoo’s hand in his. “Thank you, Seongwoo hyung.”

“Of course, you brat.” Seongwoo leaned forward and ruffled Jihoon’s hair. “We’re your hyungs. Let us take care of you sometimes, yeah?”

Jihoon gave the both of them a bright smile. “Yeah, okay.” He sat there as Seongwoo got up to sit on Jihoon’s other side to hug him as well. It was nice between sandwiched between his favorite hyungs like this.

The peace only lasted for so long, though, when Jihoon remembered what day it was. “Wait. Hyungs.” Jihoon’s eyes were wide with panic. “What time is it?”

“Huh?” Seongwoo pulled back and looked at him in confusion. He pulled out his phone to check the time. “It’s 2:48. Why?”

“Oh, shit.” Jihoon stood up and cleaned up his lunch in a hurry. “I have chem lab today. Oh, my God. How did I forget?”

“Leave it here; we’ll clean it up for you,” Jaehwan commanded and took the tray from Jihoon’s hands. “You should go now. It takes like ten minutes to get the science building from here, doesn’t it?”

“Thanks, hyung,” Jihoon let out a sigh of relief. He gave the two of them a hug and quick pecks on the cheek before grabbing his bag. “I’ll see you guys later!”

“Have fun in lab!” Seongwoo and Jaehwan waved and watched as Jihoon sped out of there, just barely dodging someone who was holding a tray full of food.

“So. Do you want to kill Woojin first or do I get the honors?” Jaehwan asked once Jihoon was out of sight. “I can’t believe that kid hasn’t talked to Jihoon yet. He told me he would soon!”

Seongwoo’s face was dark. “We’ll both go for him at the same time. That brat. Just wait until Daniel hears about this.”

***

Jihoon, luckily, managed to get to lab with five minutes to spare. He let out a relieved sigh and hurried over to his station, ignoring his professor’s look of disapproval, and gave Hyungseob a wave. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself,” Hyungseob raised an eyebrow. “Did you run here or something?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon grimaced. “I was at the dining hall with Seongwoo hyung and Jaehwan hyung and lost track of time. How are you today?”

“I’m good,” Hyungseob shrugged. He frowned and leaned in closer when he noticed that Jihoon’s eyes were red and slightly swollen. “Did you… have you been crying?”

“Huh?” Jihoon’s hands flew up to cover his eyes, but it was too late. Hyungseob straightened up in alarm and grabbed Jihoon’s hands and forced them down so that he could get a closer look.

“Who was it?!” Hyungseob’s eyes were furious. “Who made you cry?”

“It’s nothing,” Jihoon whispered in panic, looking around to make sure they weren’t attracting any unwanted attention. “I promise!”

Hyungseob eyed him suspiciously but let go of his hands. “Is it Woojin? Is he still ignoring you?”

Jihoon flinched. “How does everyone know?”

“He’s not exactly _subtle_ ,” Hyungseob scoffed a little. “I can’t believe him. Do you want me to talk to him for you?”

“No, it’s okay.” Jihoon gave him a reassuring smile. “Thank you, Hyungseobie. I heard about you and Euiwoong though. Congrats!”

Hyungseob turned bright red and he turned around to fiddle with the beakers in embarrassment. “Thanks, Jihoonie.”

Jihoon grinned and gave his friend a quick hug before turning to the front to listen to their professor, who had started talking to them about the lab procedures.

***

from: **seobseobie**

ill kill you

to: **seobseobie**

???

whatever it was i didn’t do it i swear

from: **seobseobie**

yes you did!!

you made my jihoonie cry!!

>:(((

to: **seobseobie**

…

he cried…?

from: **seobseobie**

yes.

to: **seobseobie**

…

i didn’t know

shit

do you know where he is rn?

from: **seobseobie**

of course you didn’t know

you’ve been avoiding him for like the past month and a half

idk where he is now we just finished lab

he might be at the art studio though? we have some projects that are due soon

to: **seobseobie**

okay

okay thanks hyungseob

and congrats btw

heard about u and euiwoong

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

from: **seobseobie**

(¬▂¬)

you’re not allowed to congratulate us until you make up with jihoonie!!!

from: **seobseobie**

okay okay i will

i promise

from: **seobseobie**

ill believe it when i see it smh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes:  
> -woojin's classes on wednesday end at 5 and he knows this and jihoon knows this too oof  
> -did anyone's hearts break along with jihoon's? just me? okay  
> -jihoon usually eats lunch with woojin on mon, wed, fri's but since woojin's been avoiding him;;; my poor baby  
> -supportive hyungs onghwan,,, im really soft for this ot3 okay;;;;;;;  
> -jihoon has chem lab on mondays from 3~6 on mondays  
> -euiwoong and hyungseob managed to confess and get together before woojin even had a chance to sort out his feelings lmao when will ur faves ever
> 
> as u probably could tell by the newly updated chapter count thing, this story is nearing its end T_T next chapter will be the last one and after that will be a short(??????????) epilogue!! im sad to see this story end so soon but :'(((((
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this chapter!!!! comments make my day hehe <3
> 
>  
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/iridescent__ong) | [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/iridescent__ong)


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m not going to cry,” Jihoon snapped then promptly burst into tears.
> 
> “Fuck.” Woojin cursed and pulled Jihoon into a hug. “Fuck. Jihoon, I’m so sorry. Stop crying, please.” He squeezed Jihoon tightly, but not too tightly, because Jihoon was fucking delicate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *takes place immediately after the last chapter!

from: **jaehwan hyung**

you better talk to jihoon soon or istg woojin

to: **jaehwan hyung**

i know.

***

“He just left.” Taehyung—a sunbae from Jihoon’s department—informed Woojin when he burst into the first art studio he saw. “Like, literally. You missed him by like maybe thirty seconds?”

“Okay, thank you.” Woojin bowed and rushed out of the studio. He racked his brain for where Jihoon could be at this hour and tries the library first.

“He’s not here.” Jisung shook his head and gave Woojin a disapproving look. “Are you finally done avoiding him?”

“Yes,” Woojin sighed. “If you see him can you let me know? Don’t tell him though. I think he might be avoiding me now.” Jihoon had ignored every single one of his calls and messages and Woojin can’t bring himself to blame his best friend. Woojin was acting like an asshole, after all.

“Okay,” Jisung nodded. “Good luck.”

“Thanks, hyung.” Woojin left the library and tried the Quad. When he realized that Jihoon wasn’t there, Woojin groaned. He wasn’t sure if Jihoon would be back at their dorm, but it was the only place left that Woojin could think of. He considered asking Daehwi for help, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready for the shade the younger would surely throw at him.

He could deal with that later; he knew he deserved it.

“Please be here,” Woojin mumbled as he unlocked the door to their dorm. “Jihoon.” A relieved sigh escaped Woojin when he saw Jihoon sitting at his desk, seemingly working on homework.

Jihoon turned around in surprise and the two of them stared at each other in awkward silence until Woojin cleared his throat and closed the door behind him.

“Hi.”

“… Hi.” Jihoon scoffed and stood up. He crossed his arms and waited for Woojin to say something.

“I’m sorry.” Woojin said. “I’ve been acting like an asshole, and you don’t deserve that.”

Jihoon was silent for a moment. “Why?”

Woojin blinked. “Huh?”

“Why did you avoid me?” Jihoon asked quietly. He looked like he was about to start crying and Woojin began to panic. “Did I do something wrong? Were you mad at me? Was it because I accidentally wore your hoodie and stole your food?”

Jihoon’s lips began to quiver and Woojin rushed forward in alarm. “I—what? No, it’s not because you wore my hoodie or stole my food. I’m not mad at you. I was never mad at you. Please don’t cry.”

“I’m not going to cry,” Jihoon snapped then promptly burst into tears.

“Fuck.” Woojin cursed and pulled Jihoon into a hug. “Fuck. Jihoon, I’m so sorry. Stop crying, please.” He squeezed Jihoon tightly, but not too tightly, because Jihoon was fucking delicate.

“Why are you mad at me?” Jihoon wailed and shoved his face into Woojin’s chest.

“I’m not mad at you! Shit, Jihoon, look at me, please.” Woojin forced Jihoon to look up and cupped his cheeks, wiping the tears away. “I’m not mad at you, okay? I could never be mad at you. I… have been avoiding you, though, and I’m sorry for that,” Woojin admitted. Jihoon looked like he was going to burst into tears again and whimpered when Woojin brought him in for another hug.

“Why?” Jihoon sniffled. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, of course not.” Woojin sighed and pressed a kiss into Jihoon’s hair. “It’s—it’s complicated.”

“Tell me.” Jihoon may be crying, but he could still be a demanding little bitch, Woojin noted.

“It’s because,” Woojin paused. Was he ready to ruin the years of their precious friendship? Of course not. But would Jihoon let him off with a half-assed excuse? Definitely not. Would Jihoon know if Woojin was lying? Yes, yes, and _yes_.

“Because?” Jihoon asked, wriggling a little so that he could look up at Woojin.

Woojin wanted to die. When did Jihoon get so cute?

 _He’s always been cute,_ his brain supplied.

 _Shut up_ , Woojin said.

“I, uh, like you.” Woojin took a deep breath to ready himself for the inevitable rejection. Jihoon, however, just scrunched up his nose, looking confused, and Woojin felt his soul leave his body.

“Um? I like you too. I would hope you like me. We’re best friends. We also live together.” Jihoon frowned. “It would be really bad if you didn’t like me, I think.”

Okay, so this was going better than he thought it would. Woojin cleared his throat and relaxed the grip he had on Jihoon, giving his friend the option to kick him away if he so chose to. “No, Jihoon. I like you. Like, I _like_ like you.”

 _Too many likes in the confession. Also, are you in middle school_ , Woojin could practically hear Daehwi hiss.

 _Shut up, Daehwi_.

“Oh.” Jihoon looked down quietly. Woojin swallowed and ignored the feeling of his heart dropping down to his stomach.

“Yeah, so I get it if you want me to like, you know, leave. I think room change requests are closed already though, so you’re stuck with me for the rest of the year, but I don’t think Daehwi would mind it too much if I crashed at his dorm. Or maybe Seongwoo hyung and Daniel hyung will let me crash at their place every once in a while.” Woojin made a face at that. “Actually, never mind. I don’t want to crash at their place. Who knows what those two hyungs are up to.”

“I like you to.” Woojin almost doesn’t hear him. Jihoon said it so quietly it was almost as if he was telling himself. Woojin looked down at his best friend, who was blushing so hard that Woojin worried for a second that he was sick.

“You—what?”

“I like you too,” Jihoon said it louder that time, looking directly into Woojin’s eyes as he told the boy. “I like you a lot. So please don’t avoid me anymore.”

“Oh.” Woojin’s eyes were wide. “Uh, that’s good. Nice. Great, I guess. Uh, I’m glad I won’t have to crash at Seongwoo hyung and Daniel hyung’s place then.”

Jihoon giggled before smooshing his face back into Woojin’s chest, and a part of Woojin died a little at the cuteness. “I can’t believe you thought I would hate you for his. I seriously thought I did something wrong, but I couldn’t think of anything I’d done to piss you off so badly. I barely saw you this past month and a half, you asshole.” Woojin heard the tears coming back in Jihoon’s voice and hugged him tighter.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled into Jihoon’s hair. “I think we’ve already established that I’m kind of really fucking stupid—especially when it comes to feelings.”

“Yeah,” Jihoon mumbled. “You owe me.”

“I do.”

“I want noodles.”

“Okay.” Woojin lifted Jihoon’s head to drop a kiss on his forehead. “We’ll get you some noodles tonight.”

Jihoon whined and buried his face back into Woojin’s chest, who smiled fondly at his actions. “And chicken. I want chicken too.”

“And chicken,” Woojin chuckled.

***

Woojin felt like he died and went to heaven—that was the only explanation he had for this situation. After getting noodles for dinner (“No, Jihoon, you can’t have both noodles _and_ chicken for dinner. We’ll get you chicken tomorrow.”), they were back at their dorm and Jihoon wouldn’t let him go.

Jihoon, who hated PDA more than anything in the world, was currently cuddled up against Woojin on his bed. Woojin doesn’t know what to think.

“I can hear you thinking and I’m here to tell you to stop,” Jihoon mumbled into Woojin’s chest.

“You hate PDA,” Woojin said.

“It’s not PDA if we’re not in public, is it?” Jihoon yawned and snuggled in closer, and Woojin shifted to hold him tighter. “This is nice, why didn’t we do this sooner?”

“Because I’m stupid.”

Jihoon laughed, and Woojin felt his heart grow warm. “Well, I’m not going to argue with that.”

“Can I ask you something?” Woojin asked. Jihoon looked up at him and Woojin melts at how cute Jihoon is. “When did you realize that you, uh, liked me?”

“Could you be any more awkward?” Jihoon asked with a slight smirk. “To be honest, I don’t know? I think it was when I realized you were avoiding me on purpose.” His voice grew quiet at that and Woojin tightened his arms in a silent apology. “It hit me how much I miss having you around, and how hard it was for me to function properly without you by my side. It hit me completely when I sort of talked to Jisung hyung about it. I tried to be vague, but he probably realized anyways, but yeah.”

“I’m sorry,” Woojin whispered and kissed the top of Jihoon’s head. “I don’t deserve you.”

Jihoon snorted. “Shut up, Park Woojin. I’ll kill you if you say something as stupid as that again.”

Woojin chuckled in response and closed his eyes. They cuddled in silence after that and Woojin was relishing the feeling of having Jihoon in his arms, when he suddenly remembered:

“That reminds me… how are we going to tell everyone?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some notes:  
> -if woojin hadn't talked to jihoon in this chapter jaehwan probably would've kicked his ass (seongwoo would've helped) lmao  
> -taehyung and jungkook (from bts) are both jihoon's seniors in the art department!!  
> -can u believe i made jihoon cry again in this chapter???????? but at least my son is happy now :')))  
> -tag urself im daehwi  
> -jihoon ran into jisung in the library when woojin was being a Dumb and asked him what he should do and after talking to jisung about it he realized that the feelings he was feeling was because he liked woojin :'))) i love jisung he's too pure for this world
> 
> next chapter will be the epilogue!! i'll probably have that out in the next few days instead of next friday, so look out for that :'))))) icb this story is officially ending lakjfalwekfksdjfsdk
> 
> comments make my day!! hehe i hope you enjoyed this chapter (๑❛ᴗ❛๑)
> 
>  
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/iridescent__ong) | [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/iridescent__ong)


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Do you know what happened?” Seongwoo asked, leaning forward. “I haven’t seen Jihoon since Monday and he sucks at responding to texts.”
> 
> “Unless your name is Park Woojin,” Daehwi mumbled under his breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ㅠㅠ

“Do you think they’ll come?” Sungwoon asked Jisung with a frown. It was Friday night, and Jisung and Sungwoon had decided to host a small get-together to celebrate the end of midterms. “Jihoon and Woojin, I mean.”

Daehwi, who was listening to the conversation, piped up, “Jihoon hyung will probably come. Can’t say the same for Woojin hyung, though.”

“I actually ran into Woojin in the library the other day,” Jisung remarked. “He was looking for Jihoon.”

“Why was he looking for Jihoon hyung in the library?” Jinyoung asked with a frown. “Why not the art room?”

Jisung shrugged. “Who knows. Maybe he came after looking in the art room.”

“Do you know what happened?” Seongwoo asked, leaning forward. “I haven’t seen Jihoon since Monday and he sucks at responding to texts.”

“Unless your name is Park Woojin,” Daehwi mumbled under his breath.

“No,” Jisung shook his head. “I just told him that Jihoon wasn’t there and he left. I hope they talked it out, though. Jihoon came to talk to me like two weeks ago about it.”

The rest of them raised their eyebrows. “What did you tell him?” Jaehwan asked.

“It was mostly just him rambling to me about what was going on,” Jisung admitted. “I think he just needed someone to listen to him rant. He sort of realized halfway through what was going on though, I think? He went ‘oh, fuck’ and ran out on me, so.”

“I’m glad one of them has the capacity to realize their emotions on their own, at least.” Jinyoung sighed heavily. “I hope Jihoon hyung kicked his ass.”

Everyone voiced out their agreements. The door opened at that moment, and everyone turned towards it to see if the Pink Sausage duo would walk in together, or if it would just be one of them joining them that night.

To their surprise, Jihoon and Woojin walked in arguing about something, looking like this past month and a half hadn’t happened at all.

“I’m just saying,” Jihoon complained. “I think I could pull off pink hair.”

“Jihoon.” Woojin rolled his eyes but his voice was patient. “I’m not letting you bleach your hair and then dye it pink in _our bathroom_. Go to a damn salon.”

“I don’t have the money for that!” Jihoon protested. “And I’ve dyed my hair before, fuck you. I’m not going to mess it up.”

“Hey guys.” Jaehwan raised an eyebrow. “Is everything okay—whoa.”

He trailed off when his eyes landed on Jihoon’s and Woojin’s interlocked hands. When everyone else also saw them holding hands, Daehwi let out a shriek while Jinyoung yelled in surprise. Guanlin mumbled out a “finally,” and Sungwoon pointed at the two in shock. Minhyun just smiled at the two, glad that his two dongsengs finally managed to talk things out.

“You guys worked things out, then?” Jisung was the only one calm enough to question the new couple while everybody else continued to lose their shit. “Congrats, you two!”

“Thanks, hyung.” Jihoon gave him a blinding grin and Seongwoo cooed in the background at his “precious son.”

“I’m glad Woojin finally managed to get his life together,” Jaehwan said when he finished freaking out. “I’m proud of you, Woojin.”

Woojin rolled his eyes but smirked gratefully. “Thanks, Jjaeni hyung.”

“So you two are finally done being idiots? They grow up so fast.” Daehwi wiped a fake tear away and stood up to give the two of them a hug. “Congrats, idiots. I’m happy for you.”

Jihoon laughed and Woojin shoved Daehwi away lightly with a grin.

“Thank God,” Jinyoung looked up at the ceiling and sighed in relief. “I don’t have to watch those two be dumb around each other anymore.”

“Amen,” Daniel agreed and gave Jinyoung a high-five.

Jihoon and Woojin smiled as their friends continued to congratulate the two. The night continued, and none of them bat an eye when Jihoon punched Woojin in the shoulder for taking away his drink, figuring that the two of them dating wouldn’t change their dynamic much.

(“Jihoon, you can’t get piss drunk tonight. Did you forget that you agreed to switch shifts with Kenta hyung tomorrow? You have to get to work by 6:30.”

“Shut up, Park Woojin. Don’t tell me how to live my life!)

If anyone saw Jihoon reach for Woojin’s hand in the dark, no one said anything. Seongwoo smiled in content and leaned against Daniel, who wrapped an arm around the older male. Jaehwan had his arms wrapped around Minhyun’s shoulder, who leaned back on his boyfriend with a soft smile on his face.

Jinyoung and Daehwi were cuddling on the couch while Sungwoon and Jisung had Guanlin sandwiched in between them as they watched the movie playing.

Woojin looked around the room with a content smile that widened when he glanced down at Jihoon, who was starting to lean against Woojin’s shoulder as he continued to get engrossed in the movie. He wondered how he got so lucky to be blessed with such a wonderful group of friends and someone like Jihoon to stay by his side.

He leaned down slightly and kissed Jihoon’s forehead and shook his head with a smile when Jihoon looked up at him with questioning eyes. Jihoon just smiled back and leaned in closer, closing his eyes. Woojin leaned down and met him halfway, their lips pressing together in a small, chaste kiss.

“Hey, lovebirds, we’re happy for you, but no one wants to see the two of you make out.” Daehwi threw a cushion at the two of them, who separated in shock.

Seongwoo snickered and Jaehwan cackled while Jisung snorted and Sungwoon shook his head in amusement.

“I’m going to kill Lee Daehwi,” Woojin mumbled under his breath with a glare directed towards the younger male, who stuck his tongue at him. He was immediately pacified, however, when Jihoon laughed loudly and leaned forward to press his lips against Woojin’s again, ignoring the protests of their friends around them.

Woojin smiled into the kiss and wrapped his arm around Jihoon’s waist to bring him in closer. Yeah, he was lucky, alright, to have the boy of his dreams in his arms like this and supportive friends surrounding them.

Life was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaand that's a wrap folks!! icb this story is really over now;; ahh im getting emotional HAHAHA
> 
> thank you for your support!! i hope that this story was able to make you smile like it was supposed to, and i hope that you enjoyed this story as much as i enjoyed writing it♥
> 
> my next fic has already been posted [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14942763/chapters/34622478) and i hope that i'll see some of you there :')))
> 
> byungari, out! (✿´ ꒳ ` )
> 
>  
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/iridescent__ong) | [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/iridescent__ong)


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